 Two healthcare professionals sat at a table, smiling. The picture is greyed out, with an orange and green border, with the words 'the world of health and social care is changing. So are we.' written across the bottom of the picture.
From 21 November we will start using our new single assessment framework in our South region.
Between 21 November and 4 December we will undertake a small number of planned assessments with 14 early adopter providers, whilst continuing to respond to risk. We will then expand our new assessment approach to all providers based on a risk-informed schedule.
We are sharing more information with providers in the South separately and will be in touch with providers in other areas of the country to confirm when we'll start using our new approach with them shortly.
NOTE: At this stage our new assessment approach will not apply to services we do not rate or NHS trust well-led assessments. We'll be in contact with those providers with the detail of how we'll roll out our new approach with them.
The South region includes services registered in these counties: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire.
 A man sitting on a sofa, his crutches resting against the left armrest with a carer holding his leg.
We've recently published some new provider guidance that describes the evidence we'll use to assess individual quality statements for different types of providers.
We want to make sure this guidance gives you the information you need to understand this part of our new approach.
To help us understand that we'd like your feedback on the guidance.
 Image with text that reads: Department of Health & Social Care with a image of the Royal Coat of Arms.
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is running a cost collection survey to help inform the 2024-2025 NHS-funded Nursing Care (FNC) rate and would like to encourage registered private providers to complete it. The survey is open until midnight Wednesday 15 November 2023 and available via a link in Capacity Tracker.
DHSC sets the national FNC rate which dictates the amount that the NHS pays care homes delivering FNC. Given wider inflationary pressures, DHSC is now conducting this one-off ‘cost collection exercise’ to ensure that the most recent and accurate data available.
The survey is optional, but a greater sample size will mean more reliable results. When completing the survey, please ensure that you have data on the number of residents, by funding type and payroll information, on both pay and hours worked by registered nurses for the two months of April 2023 and September 2023 (or your most recent completed payroll period) to hand. If you have any questions, please contact DHSC’s FNC inbox at fnc@dhsc.gov.uk
 Illustration of three coloured (black, white and yellow) lightbulbs
The Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) Adult Social Care Innovation and Improvement Unit has launched the Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF). It provides a total of £42.6 million over 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support innovation and scaling in adult social care and to kick start a change in services to support unpaid carers. It includes a commitment to invest up to an additional £25 million to support unpaid carers.
The ARF will support local areas to take forward projects, guided by a list of priorities for innovation and scaling, relevant to their local areas. Local authorities should work collaboratively with partners in their integrated care system (ICS), including the NHS, care providers and voluntary and community sector groups.
The ARF will support at least two projects in each area, with one of those having a particular focus on unpaid carers. All projects should consider co-production with people who draw on care and support, and unpaid carers, ensuring they are inclusive of the diverse needs of local areas.
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) will be offering hands on support to local areas to take forward their priorities for innovation. Local areas will be able to work with SCIE to develop local partnerships, set-up and deliver projects. Local areas can contact SCIE for support.
A national evaluation partner will evaluate whether the programme has been successful at tackling the barriers to innovation, the success of SCIE’s support offer, and the ways local areas can continue to scale and adopt new innovations after the ARF has been delivered.
Local authorities – in collaboration with partners in their integrated care system – are invited to submit expressions of interest by 12 January 2024.
 Two shades of a purple background with a (Righthand side) illustration of a mobile phone, a shield with a tick in the middle overlapping a laptop. (Lefthand side) text reads: DSPT Better security. Better Care.
Digital Care Hub (formerly Digital Social Care), in partnership with Care England and NHS Transformation Directorate will run 2 webinars focussing on contract management with software companies.
What to check for in your technology contracts (for social care providers), 22 November 2-3:30pm.
Monitoring your digital contracts well (for social care providers), 29 November, 2-3:30pm
Who should attend?
These sessions have been designed for adult social care providers in England and are aimed at people who make decisions about the use of technology in care services.
This might include:
- Owners
- Registered Managers
- Nurses
- Senior Care Staff
- Care Staff
- Administrators
- IT Professionals
- Quality & Compliance Leads
|
