Because we all care

care quality commission

The independent regulator of health and social care in England

Newsletter

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

                                                                             July 2020


Because we all care

kj

We're calling on everyone to help shape health and social care. We have joined forces with Healthwatch and other health and care partners for a new campaign.

This campaign aims to help services identify and address quality issues, and support patients by encouraging people to share feedback on individual experiences.


Learning from local areas

England

In the third of our regular COVID-19 insight reports, we again put the focus on collaboration between providers, in advance of our Provider Collaboration Reviews (PCRs) that are taking place throughout July and August. The reviews will focus on 11 Integrated Care System (ICS) or Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) areas. They'll focus on the interface between health and adult social care for people aged 65 and over.

The reviews will support providers across systems by sharing learning, helping to drive improvements and prepare for future pressures on local health and care systems.They'll help identify where provider collaboration has worked well to the benefit of people who use services. Sharing that learning will help drive further improvements across systems. These pressures include the financial impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on adult social care services.


Return to inspection and Infection Control

We're developing a new Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) inspection tool, with questions and prompts, which will be used for an IPC review and on all upcoming inspections of care homes. Our Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, Debbie Ivanova, has written a blog post, updating on our managed return to inspection and how we are looking at Infection Prevention and Control as part of this.


CQC and Getting It Right First Time 

We've published a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT). It sets out how we'll will work with those leading the GIRFT to:

  • safeguard the wellbeing of people receiving health and social care in England
  • promote patient safety
  • support improvements in care.

GIRFT is a national programme designed to improve care within the NHS by reducing unwarranted variations. 


Update on Special Educational Needs and Disability inspections

Since 2016, we've conducted joint inspections with Ofsted to see how well local areas fulfil their responsibilities for children and young people with special educational needs (SEND) and/or disabilities. To make sure children and young people are receiving the support that they need, these joint inspections look at how well education, social care and health services work together to identify those children and young people who have SEND and/or a disability – and how well they assess and meet their needs.

During the pandemic these inspections have been suspended, but we'll be working collaboratively with local areas through a series of interim visits, beginning in the autumn. We'll be working to gain insight into how well the system is working and to support local areas to meet the needs of children and young people at this difficult time.


Update on the safe management and use of controlled drugs

This year’s Safer Management of Controlled Drugs annual update gives an overview of prescribing data and trends for controlled drugs across England, as well as information on key changes to legislation. While the report covers the calendar year 2019, given the rapid changes across health and social care in response to COVID-19, this year we also include initial learning and legal changes in early 2020.


Positive about hospital care, but discharge delays and access remain a concern

Most people who stayed as an inpatient in hospital were happy with the care they received, had confidence in the doctors and nurses treating them and felt their fundamental needs were met. However, the respondents were less positive about arrangements and information received when leaving hospital, and access to support and further services once at home. This was a particular concern for people who self-reported as being frail. Read more about the adult inpatient survey here.


Guidance on reopening care homes

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has provided guidance on reopening care homes in England. The guidance includes advice on face coverings, additional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the location of visits at the home. Changes to visits are based on individual needs and advice is to limit to a single constant visitor, per resident, wherever possible. Public Health England have also published updated guidance for care home workers in light of the coronavirus outbreak. The guidance includes a recommendation for the use of face masks and coverings in care homes.


Funding for hospital discharge

DHSC has announced funding of £62 million to help discharge people with learning disabilities and/or autism from hospital into the community. They also note that people who could be better supported in their community will have their discharges from hospital accelerated. The Voluntary Organisations Disability Group, a national charity that represents leading not-for-profit organisations who provide services to disabled people, have responded.


Pay rise for public sector workers

HM Treasury, the government's economic and finance ministry, has announced that there will be an above inflation pay rise of up to 3.1% for doctors, dentists, teachers, police officers and other public sector workers. Doctors are among those who will receive a 3.1% rise. NHS Providers has responded.


Recommendations for government on COVID-19 response

The Public Accounts Committee has outlined recommendations for a government-wide response to COVID-19. The recommendation includes the government ‘reviewing the lessons learned in relation to the government’s procurement of PPE’. The report also recommends that the Cabinet Office and the Treasury be open and transparent about the planning and preparations across government for a possible second infection peak, particularly the lessons being applied from the first wave of infection.


Call to prepare for a rise in mental health difficulties

The Centre for Mental Health, an independent UK mental health charity, has called for the NHS and the government to prepare ahead of a ‘rise in mental health difficulties over the winter’ through their second COVID-19 and the nation's mental health briefing.The report follows the centre's first forecast, which indicated that about half a million more people will experience a mental health difficulty over the next year as a result of the pandemic.


Feeding back during the coronavirus pandemic

feedback on care form

Although we paused our routine inspections, our regulatory role and core purpose of keeping people safe has not changed – safety is still our priority. During the coronavirus outbreak, it's more important than ever that we hear your feedback about services you've used or worked at.

You can use our give feedback on care service to let us know about your experience of care - good or bad.

All Care Quality Commission offices are now closed. This means that we have stopped communicating by post, and ask that you do not send post to us. Please use other methods to contact us, details of which are available on our website.