 Leadership in adult social care
Andrea Sutcliffe spoke at a ‘Leadership in adult social care’ event this month on what it takes to be a great leader in the sector.
Andrea has adapted her speech into a blog post so that everyone can read her five key points.
You can read the full post on our Medium page.
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Learning from safety incidents: falls from windows
We have published the latest issue in our 'Learning from safety incidents' series. The new issue looks at the risk of falls from windows. Read more here.
CQC's new data strategy
CQC is developing a new data strategy, looking at how we collect, store, use and share information about the quality of health and social care services.
To make sure the Data Strategy reflects the needs of providers we would like to hear your views on questions looking at sources of information and who we share information with.
You can find the questions here.
Amendment of guidance on requirement to display ratings
The public has a right to know how care services are performing. To help them do this, Regulation 20A became a legal requirement in April 2015. This means:
- All registered providers that have received a CQC rating have to display it
- Ratings must be displayed at each location used for providing or managing regulated services and on their website (if they have one).
Following engagement with trade associations and stakeholders from all sectors we recently made a minor amendment to our guidance. The amendment makes clear that if we assess that your rating is not displayed as required, we will follow our Enforcement Policy to decide our response. Our response and use of enforcement powers will be proportionate to the circumstances of each case.
The regulation also sets out what must be included in the displayed information and CQC has developed posters and digital products to help providers do this easily. We will continue to work with partners to improve our guidance and ensure that providers meet the regulation.
Brexit guidance
The Government and the European Union (EU) have now agreed the basis upon which the UK will leave the EU in March 2019. A ‘no deal’ exit is not the Government’s policy but they have a duty to prepare for all scenarios. Today they have published guidance detailing the actions the health and care system in England should take to prepare for a 'no deal' scenario. Accompanying the guidance is a cover letter, which provides additional updates about what you can and should do to prepare for a ‘no deal’ scenario. We encourage all providers to read these carefully to ensure you understand what you may need to do.
We are still looking for your views on our proposals for fees
On 25 October we launched our consultation on the fees we propose to charge providers in 2019/20, which follows from our plans to meet the Treasury’s requirement to recover all chargeable costs from providers in full.
We are making specific proposals for community social care (including domiciliary care), dental, and residential social care.
If you have not already you can read the proposal in full and also share your views by using our online form. The consultation will close at noon on Thursday 17 January 2019.
Ombudsman events across England in 2019
If you are a complaints handler and would like the chance to network and find out about the latest developments in Adult Social Care, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is holding a number of events across the country in February and March.
The events in Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and London will include the chance to learn about how to use complaints to drive service improvements, along with a discussion session on dealing with challenging behaviour from friends and relatives.
Ombudsman Michael King will also talk about the Annual Review of Complaints, and you can also find out how the Ombudsman is working in partnership with the CQC and other organisations.
You can find more information on the ombudsman website.
CQC accessing records and GDPR
CQC has powers under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to access and use information where we consider this is necessary for us to carry out our functions as a regulator. Where possible inspectors should explain why they are asking to look at certain records. They will consider any concerns and objections raised to them, and whether they can achieve CQC’s purpose by accessing the records of someone else. However, CQC relies on its legal powers to access information rather than consent, therefore may use its powers to access records even in cases where objections have been raised.
More detail on how we ensure compliance with data protection law (including GDPR) and our privacy statement is available on our website. As part of their own compliance with GDPR, providers’ own privacy statements should inform people of CQC’s powers to ensure their staff, people using services and their families are aware. It would be helpful for providers to include a link to CQC’s privacy statement in their own. The ICO provides more information and resources on GDPR compliance and can be contacted for advice.
 Reminder: Free flu vaccinations for adult social care staff
Free flu vaccinations are available in 2018/19 for social care workers who offer direct care to people using services.
Staff should be reminded that they can access a free vaccination at their own GP practice or any pharmacy and will need to prove their eligibility by showing identification that shows their name and the name of their employing organisation, such as ID card or badge, letter from their employer, or a recent payslip.
NHS Flu Fighter Social Care is a free resource for social care providers to encourage their staff to get a flu vaccination to protect themselves and people using services from the flu virus.
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National recruitment campaign
The Department of Health and Social Care and Skills for Care have begun a national recruitment campaign called ‘Every day is different when you care’, highlighting the fact that no two days are the same when you work in social care. The website advertises jobs, presents case studies from those working in adult social care and explains the possibilities of a career in the sector.
Ending variation in end of life care for minority groups
The Tackling Inequalities in End of Life Care for Minority Groups Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise project group has published 'Care committed to me', a resource which tells the story of work in progress to improve personalised end of life care for Gypsies and Travellers, LGBT people and people experiencing homelessness.
The resource has been developed in response to CQC's 2016 report 'A different ending' and offers simple, effective approaches for success that can be adopted by providers, commissioners and those involved in caring for and supporting people living with advanced illness towards the end of their lives. The project was funded by the Health and Wellbeing Alliance, a partnership arrangement between NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and Public Health England.
 Reminder: Public Health England wants to hear from care home managers and senior staff
Public Health England (PHE) is looking for care home managers and senior staff who work in services that care for adults over the age of 65 to help them understand more about how care homes look after residents with infections, use antibiotics and deliver infection prevention. They want to find out what works well and any challenges you may have seen.
If you would like to be involved please complete this online survey. It will take 30 minutes to complete and closes at 5pm on 31 December 2018.
The survey is confidential and voluntary. Your service will not be identifiable in the report. If you have any questions about this work please contact hcai@phe.gov.uk.
Thank you to all of those who have completed the survey already.
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CQC to review the use of restrictive interventions
CQC has been commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to review the use of restraint, prolonged seclusion and segregation in settings that provide care for people with mental health problems, a learning disability and/or autism. The review will examine the range of factors that lead to people being subject to restrictive interventions and assess the extent to which services follow best practice in minimising the need to use force.
We will work in coproduction with people who use services, their families and carers, providers, and other stakeholders in order to carry out this work and develop recommendations. We will publish a report with interim findings in May 2019, with a full report by March 2020.
Find out more and read the terms of reference for the review on our website.
Have your say on a national patient safety strategy for the NHS
The national patient safety team at NHS Improvement are seeking views on proposals for a national patient safety strategy for the NHS. The strategy is being developed alongside the NHS Long Term Plan and will be relevant to all parts of the NHS, be that physical or mental health care, in or out of hospital and primary care.
To make sure the strategy works for patients, NHS staff and providers, a consultation is running until 15 February 2019. Visit the consultation website to read the proposed strategy and share your views via the online survey.
Other news
- Did you know you can sign up to receive email newsletters or update your current subscription settings?
- On 6 December Dr Paul Lelliot, Deputy Chief Inspector for Hospitals and lead for Mental Health, responded to the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act. Read the response in full.
- The ICO has issued guidance and tools to help organisations understand the implications of a no deal Brexit on the continued flow of personal data. This is also discussed in a blog by Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham.
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Keep up with our work with professionals and provider organisations in England by following us on Twitter @CQCProf.
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