Opening the door to change

care quality commission

The independent regulator of health and social care in England

Newsletter

Our monthly update for local public stakeholders interested in health and social care

                                                                          December 2018

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Can you help us find case studies of people's care?

In January, we’ll be launching a year-long campaign. We’ll be talking about why people have been stopped from raising their concerns about care and what happened when they did speak about them. We’ll highlight how important it is to share experiences and give tips on how to raise issues about care that you or someone you love has received. We’ll also show how our independent inspection reports can help people make better decisions when choosing care.


Help us share our 2018 Adult Inpatient Survey

Hearing from patients helps bring about improvement in care and is a great way for people to make a change to their local services.

We want to hear from anyone aged 16 and over who had at least one night in a hospital during July 2018.

Help support us by telling people about our Adult Inpatient survey to make sure their experiences of care are heard. Encourage people to keep an eye out for the survey and respond to it.

Find out more using our toolkit.


New plans to review the use of restraint, long term isolation and separation

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has asked us to look at the use of restraint, long term isolation, and separation for people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and/or autism. We’ll review and offer advice on how these methods are used in settings that provide inpatient and residential care for these groups of people. We’ll start this work and report on our findings in May 2019, with a full report by March 2020.


Our response to the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act

Dr Paul Lelliott, our Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals and lead for mental health said that the Independent Mental Health Act review has been a good opportunity to look at how to improve the care and treatment received by the thousands of people affected by the act each year. You can read our response and find out more about concerns we raised in our report on the State of Mental Health services 2014-2017.


How local health and social care systems work together in Staffordshire

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We’ve got a new report out looking at health and social care services in Staffordshire. This is one of 23 targeted local system reviews we’ve been doing looking how older people move through the health and social care system, and how those services work together. The reviews look at how hospitals, community health services, GP practices, care homes and homecare agencies work together to provide seamless care for people aged 65 and over living in a local area


New national patient safety plan for the NHS

NHS Improvement (NHSI) have a new national patient safety plan for the NHS. The strategy is being developed alongside the NHS Long Term Plan. They’re aiming for avoidable harm to patients to be halved over the next five years in areas such as medication errors and Never Events, alongside developing a ‘just culture’ for the NHS where frontline staff are supported to speak up when errors occur.


£650 million more for social care for 2019 to 2020

The Government have echoed their previous promise of £650 million more for social care for 2019 to 2020 in the local government finance settlement plan. The cash includes £240 million to help with winter care pressures on adult social care, with local authorities able to use the remaining £410 million on adults or children’s social care, and where it’s needed to help the demand on the NHS.


Future workforce crisis that could be made worse by Brexit

The General Medical Council (GMC) have a new report arguing research has shown a future workforce crisis that could be made worse by Brexit due to poor recruitment and retention of doctors. The full report mentions our radiology report and emerging concerns protocol. The GMC is the independent regulator for doctors in the UK and aims to protect patients and improve UK medical education and practice by supporting students, doctors, educators and healthcare providers.


Improvement in health spending needs to look at problems on a local level

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have published a report which found that despite the Department of Health and Social Care suggesting an improvement in health spending there are still problems at a local level. The PAC look at government spending, and ensure it’s effective and honest.


The lives we want to lead

The Local Government Association (LGA) have a new report on adult social care. The LGA supports local councils and represents their work  to the government and others. This report, created for politicians, care professionals and the public looks at adult social care and wellbeing, talks about options for the future and makes some decisions about the care and support system we need and how to pay for it.


Police cannot fix a broken mental health system

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) have published a report on policing and mental health. Our Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals and lead for mental health said: “People  need expert and prompt help. All too often this isn’t available at the time and place that they need it. As a result, the police are too frequently the first point of contact for those experiencing a mental health crisis.”


Care committed to me

Hospice UK have developed a new tool called care committed to me. It shows how those who work in end of life care services can deliver high quality, personalised care for LGBT people, the homeless, and Gypsies and Travellers. They say more should be done at a local level, and ask for these groups to be included in work looking at current and future health and social care. The new tool focuses on three of the groups identified by CQC on inequalities in end of life care in England published in 2016.  


Learning Disability and Autism Leaders List 2018

60 people with learning disabilities and/or autism have been awarded in the Dimensions Learning Disability and Autism Leaders List 2018 for breaking stereotypes and changing attitudes. A panel of 14 judges including people with learning disabilities and autism selected the winners from nearly 600 people.


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What are you hearing?

We want to hear what you’re hearing!

You can provide vital local information that helps CQC decide where to inspect.

You can send us your enter and view reports, surveys, comments from the public and any other feedback you gather.

This intelligence can help detect changes in quality at a service, either good or bad. You don’t need to wait until we’re inspecting a service to provide this information to us either, you can send us what you’re hearing at any time.

You can do this via the share your experience form on our website.

You can also call our national customer service centre on 03000 616161 or provide it to your local inspection team.