REGULAR
are breached. Some ‘Requires improvement’ services may also be in breach.
Services are rated using a formulaic process and also by use of the inspector’s professional judgement, having regard to all of the evidence. It is clear that, whether aiming for ‘Outstanding’ or not, standards need to remain consistently high. That said, the CQC says: “Even those rated as outstanding are likely to have areas where they could improve”.
Inspection results The CQC regularly publishes updates as to how it and its registered Service Providers are doing. Clearly, this is an ongoing process. The latest update by region, available from the CQC’s website, reports as follows:
Central The CQC has published 48 reports on the quality of care in the central region, with 25 rated good, 23 listed as requiring improvement and four care services rated as inadequate.
North of England CQC rated 47 services in the North of England. 28 were rated as good, 15 as requiring improvement and four rated as inadequate.
South of England In the South of England, CQC published 65 reports on care quality, including 27 rated as good, 28 rated as requiring improvement and ten rated as inadequate.
London In London, 31 reports were published, 20 of these care homes and homecare agencies were rated as good, eight were rated as requires improvement and three were rated as inadequate.
It should be noted that, since 1st April 2015, providers have been required to display their ratings on their premises and on their website for the public to see. The CQC also records the result on the service provider’s section on the CQC website.
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Hints for preparing for an inspection
• Make use of networks within the sector and/or professional advisors to get the benefit of their regulator experiences
• Recognise that excellence flows from consistent best practice – it is clear from the CQC’s stance that the bar is high and it will expect to see evidence of service providers embracing and adopting best practice
• From an evidential point of view, it follows that service providers need to have practical and well- applied policies and procedures that are regularly reviewed and can be seen to be adhered to
• Give some thought to preparing for the inspection itself by encouraging the use of internal surveys for staff and service users based on the KLOEs (check your Handbook Appendices) – of itself this is evidence that inspectors can use, as well as providing insight on how to improve a service offering
• Consider having Quality Champions to advocate best practice ‘on the ground’
• Make sure staff are on hand and available for the inspection, not least for internal feedback on the inspectors themselves
• Put in place a new policy for each KLOE – a simple process as to how to achieve each KLOE by making use of the ‘prompts’ referred to in the KLOE matrix
• Consider signposting clients to compliance companies specialising in their service offering, in order to make best use of time and resources available
• Try mock inspections using CQC methodology – your local support network may be a means of collaboration
• Seek immediate feedback from the inspector, rather than gritting your teeth and waiting for the report (which can take weeks to arrive). Serious concerns or failings will be obvious from the outset and steps can be taken to engage and address them
• Challenge any matters during feedback or once the draft report is received (you have 10 days to do so). Anything not challenged may be read as an admission – it can be a long time before the next inspection
Finally, contact your professional advisor if you are unhappy about the process adopted, the results of the inspection or any delays incurred. Now that ratings are publicly listed and, in serious cases the CQC may even brief the press, the PR consequences of an Inadequate or Needs Improvement rating can be commercially disastrous.
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