Oxfordshire County Council : Social Care Provider Engagement

The Department for Health and Social Care has issued guidance for the updated Adult Social Care Training and Development Fund.

The fund includes over £50m to support up to 37,000 individuals to enrol onto the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification in addition to funding for a range of other learning and development opportunities.

The guidance can be found at the following link:

Adult Social Care Training and Development Fund - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Skills for Care have also updated their guidance, they will be adding further updates as they are released. Please find the Skills for Care Workforce Development Fund webpages below:

Changes to learning and development funding for adult social care (skillsforcare.org.uk)

We have learned of a new scam which is affecting older people in Oxfordshire. The basis of the scam is that someone calls saying they are from the County Council and are completing a means test as part of a care assessment. The 'assessment' is completed on the phone and at the end of it the caller asks for a fee of £150. We know of one person who has experienced this but scammers make their living from doing these kinds of things over and over.

Please be vigilant to such things. Means tests are a standard part of a council assessment which make this approach particularly credible. If you have any concerns please call the Oxfordshire County Council Adult Social and Health Care Team on 0345 050 7666 Option 2

Supported Internship Webinar

Wednesday 1st May

15:00-15:45

Microsoft Teams

An informational webinar about Supported Internships preceding the launch of a new Adult Social Care Supported Internship offer due to launch in September 2024. Find out how they could enhance your workforce, create new employment pipelines in your organisation and offer new opportunities to students with Education and Health Care Plans.

There will be the chance to ask any questions you may have, and find out how you could play a part in this new Supported Internship offer.

To register for the webinar, please sign up on the Microsoft Form link below. A Microsoft Teams calendar invite will then be sent to you.

https://forms.office.com/e/LSvy1faCWv

Providers at Risk of receiving NOIs by the NHSBSA (the DHSC delivery partners & enforcers)

Not updated in the last 2 windows (February – March 2024) and at risk if they do not update in April 2024. The compliance window will open on Monday 8^th April and will close on Monday 15^thApril.

If you are aware that a Provider is no longer active – please notify CQC or encourage providers to contact CQC directly to de-register à CQC National Customer Service: 03000 616161, enquiries@cqc.org.uk.

Section 277A of the Health and Care Act 2022 – enables the Secretary of State to require regulated providers of Adult Social Care to provide information relating to:

• themselves
• their activities in connection with provision of ASC in England
• persons to whom they have provided such care.

The Adult Social Care Information (Enforcement) Regulations 2022 came into force on 1st December 2022. It requires all ASC providers, regulated by the CQC, to update the mandated collection in the Capacity Tracker.

The reporting windows are between the 8th & 14th day of each month - or next working day if the 14th is a weekend or public holiday.

Frequently Asked Questions is accessible here.

Provider training & awareness sessions are available here

These sessions are to help guide providers through the information requests, update methods and reports – they are informal events that offer providers the opportunity to raise any questions or seek clarification.

Important Reminders

• Multiple CT Registered Users recommended – to ensure sufficient cover during periods of absence. To register for a CT account, simply click on: https://capacitytracker.com/register
• Going Abroad - users are reminded that CT is not accessible outside the UK.
• Active providers with 0 service users or 0 staff – providers are required to submit a return, including a 'nil' return where services may not yet have commenced, ceased or are in the process of being updated with CQC.
• Active dual-registered providers that offer both home care and residential care – submissions are required for both services, including a 'nil' return if services are not being delivered. It is essential that providers ensure their CQC registration is up to date and that CQC are informed at the earliest opportunity if services are closed.
• For access and system guidance queries - please contact the Support Centre see details below.
• Change of staff - It is recommended that updating Capacity Tracker is included within providers staff leaver/new starter process with user accounts closed & new user registrations in place. This will ensure that you continue to receive important communications issued via Capacity Tracker and remain up to date with the information submissions.
• Any changes to provider regulated services/specialisms/bed capacity – Capacity Tracker uses CQC information. Until the CQC information is updated, it is essential the providers make CQC aware of any changes at the earliest opportunity and data submissions are maintained by completing a ‘nil return’, until the CQC information has been updated.
• Providers that are closing down/no longer active/changing registration or ownership - please notify CQC directly to de-register, see contact information below. It is essential data submissions are maintained by completing a ‘nil return’, until the CQC information has been updated.
• If you receive an enforcement notice from the DHSC partners, NHS BSA – it's important that providers who receive an enforcement notice to respond directly to the NHS BSA, see contact details below. We remain committed to supporting providers to be compliant with the ASC Information (Enforcement) Regulations 2022 and can ensure the appropriate support and guidance is in place. Contact Information:
• For system support and guidance - please contact NECS Capacity Tracker Support Centre - 0191 691 3729 or necsu.capacitytracker@nhs.net (We are open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm, excluding public holidays) • Changing registration, closing, change of ownership – please contact the CQC - T: 03000 616161, E: enquiries@cqc.org.uk, CQC Provider Portal (They are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.30pm, excluding public holidays)
• If you receive an enforcement notice – please contact the NHS Business Services Authority Enforcement Team (NHSBSA) – T: 0300 330 2088, E: enforcement@nhsbsa.nhs.uk (They are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm)

To book click this link: https://events.skillsforcare.org.uk/vbr24oxfordcc

Values Based Interviewing: 16th April 2024, 10-3.30pm

Valuable conversations: 23^rd April 2024, 10-3.45pm

Dear care provider,

We’d like to invite you to attend our values based approaches training delivered by Skills for Care. This is completely funded by Oxfordshire County Council and is the last chance to attend this year.

These will all be virtual - on zoom. There are 2 workshops covering different aspects of Values Based Approaches to Recruitment and Retention and these are aimed at managers and others responsible for recruiting. You can choose to attend both workshops, or just 1.

For Values based interviewing we suggest that it is best practice that at least 2 colleagues are trained in each organisation. So, if you do not have colleagues who are already trained then you may decide to submit 2 applications for 2 staff.

The workshops will cover the following. The approaches in values based interviewing can be used for all recruitment including overseas recruitment.

Oxfordshire County Council can now announce that an uplift of 5.8% will be automatically applied to all contracted services operating within Oxfordshire whose current rates are within the ceiling thresholds.

More information on our ceiling rates and requests for reviews can be found here.

You can also read more detail in our letter to care providers.

The Local Skills Improvement Plan’s new Care Workforce Development Partnership

Date: 20^th March 2024

Time: 11:15 – 1:15 (with light lunch to follow)

Venue: Advanced Skills Centre, Abingdon & Witney College, Wootton Road, Abingdon, OX14 1GG

The Workforce Development Partnerships (WDP) serve as a collaborative forum bringing together employers along with education and training providers to address workforce development challenges and formulate effective solutions. The primary objective of the WDP is to foster dialogue, exchange ideas, and promote collaboration to enhance the skills and capabilities of the local workforce.

The Social Care WDP across Oxfordshire & Berkshire will focus on key priorities and action for the industry such as creating further appropriate modular training provision to upskill and reskill staff and further developing the current curriculum for students, to better prepare them for the current and emerging needs of the care sector.

RSVP

To confirm your attendance please email siobhanmay@tvchamber.co.uk by 14^th March 2024. Could you please confirm in your response if you are happy to be added to an outlook calendar invitation for future meetings.

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Personalised Care Training team have some new dates available and their trainers have also created two short videos on the importance of the training and what staff will get by attending. These are now on the LTaV webpage, as is all further information.

The next five available LTaV dates are:

Fri 8 Mar 24 0930 - 1200hrs

Mon 11 Mar 24 1300 - 1530hrs

Wed 13 Mar 24 0930 - 1200hrs

Tue 19 Mar 24 1800 - 2030hrs

Wed 20 Mar 24 0930 - 1200hrs

Further training dates are on the webpage.

They have also just launched a new 2 day Change Coaches course for vaccination conversations. This builds on the Let’s Talk About Vaccines training, providing additional coaching tools and support, to develop and practice new skills and techniques. Anyone from the BOB area who has completed the Let’s Talk About Vaccines training can apply for this course. Find out more details.

We are pleased to advise that Oxfordshire County Council will continue to provide access to the Click eLearning Platform (for Grey Matter Learning courses) for 2024/2025.

With effect from the 1^st April 2024, this will be part funded with Oxfordshire County Council funding two-thirds of the cost. Providers are asked to contribute £1 per learner, per month.

This will allow you to continue to access all 100+ Adult Social Care Courses on Click.

Grey Matter Learning (GML) will be in touch to arrange the setup of payment details for the 1st April 2024 onwards. As part of this renewal of funding we would encouraging providers to review their accounts and remove any learners that are no longer needed.

The cost per learner outlined above will allow licences to be recycled and reassigned to new learners.

As part of the renewal all Oxfordshire providers will be given access to an additional 10 courses which form part of the GML Wellbeing package. Including: Emotional Intelligence, Digital Wellbeing, Sleep, Financial Wellbeing, Nutrition/Mindful eating, Fundamental Physical Health, Prevent burnout/overwhelm, Time management, Mindfulness and Sex & Relationships.

If you have any questions about the renewal please speak to Grey Matter Learning at Training@GreyMatterLearning.co.uk

Values Based Approaches - workshops funded by Oxfordshire CC – last chance to attend this year!

To book click this link: https://events.skillsforcare.org.uk/vbr24oxfordcc

Values Based Interviewing: 16th April 2024, 10-3.30pm

Valuable conversations: 23^rd April 2024, 10-3.45pm

These will all be virtual - on zoom. There are 2 workshops covering different aspects of Values Based Approaches to Recruitment and Retention and these are aimed at managers and others responsible for recruiting. You can choose to attend both workshops, or just 1. For Values based interviewing we suggest that it is best practice that at least 2 colleagues are trained in each organisation. So if you do not have colleagues who are already trained then you may decide to submit 2 applications for 2 staff. The workshops will cover the following. The approaches in values based interviewing can be used for all recruitment including overseas recruitment.