Covid-19
human rights and equalities law, via breach of its statutory duties under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. On top of that, the Relatives and
Residents’ Association (R&RA) wrote an open letter to the CQC on 22 May, expressing its disappointment at the role played by the CQC during the pandemic and accused it of failing to protect care homes. In addition, the R&RA raised concerns about the regulators failure to ‘represent the voice and needs of the sector for PPE, testing and tracing, and other much needed resources’, as well as failing to report the true death toll to ministers. To add yet more fuel to the fire, The
Guardian then ran an article on behalf of families of the residents of care homes, calling for an urgent restart to statutory inspections. Such a strong backlash is
demonstrative of the feelings of abandonment from the CQC by relatives of care residents and care providers themselves. The CQC were not the only body to receive criticism, as influential figures in the sector such as National Care Association executive chair Nadra Ahmed went after the government strategy to protect an overwhelming of the NHS – saying care homes were “left
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Considering its failures and conduct throughout the pandemic, the future of the CQC must surely be in question
completely abandoned”. It has brought about questions of faith
in the CQC from the care industry, and there is a definite cause for concern that the care regulator will come under even more serious scrutiny in due course. Many in the sector felt that – at the very least – payment of fees should have been suspended while inspections were no longer taking place.
How does the approach compare to Scotland and Wales? To put the CQC’s approach to the crisis in context, it is worthy of comparison with the reaction of care regulators in Scotland and Wales. The Scottish regulator, Care Inspectorate, announced on 13 March that it would cease inspections but promised of contact with care homes. Unlike the CQC, payment of
registration fees was suspended, and service providers were no longer required to pay balance of fees due for
the 2019/20 financial year until July 2020. Inspections have now also resumed
where risk is high, with a new ‘key question’ for care home inspections added, focusing on infection prevention/control, PPE, staffing and wellbeing. On 8 October, a letter from the regulator also confirmed that a significant number of inspections had been carried out over the preceding months. In Wales, where the designated
regulator is Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), inspections were similarly suspended on 16 March. It was not until 31 July that CIW moved into its ‘recovery phase’, confirming it would be returning to its full inspection program. As a substitute, the care regulator
plans to undertake virtual on-site inspections to protect the wellbeing of residents. The CIW is working towards being more risk-based, responsive and intelligence-led, by seeking feedback and having close direct contact with services.
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24
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com• December 2020
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