Our plan to monitor infection prevention and control (IPC) this winter
We’ll continue to regulate care and hospital locations over the coming months to support you to prepare for winter.
Kate Terroni, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care has said, “Care home providers should only admit a resident when they are confident they can meet their care needs, so where they are confident they’ve got good infection prevention control, they’ve got the right PPE, they’ve got the right workforce.
“We will absolutely support a provider to say they cannot admit someone if those ingredients aren’t in place.” You can read the full article on the Independent website.
We’ve already completed over 400 IPC inspections in adult social care both to capture good practice and to follow up in places where we believe there may be risks to residents. We’ll also be conducting IPC checks on all inspections in future and will do another 500 care home IPC inspections by the end of November.
We’ll share the results of those inspections on our website in a simple and easy to access layout so that the public can be assured, across a number of key criteria, that a care location has an effective approach to IPC. We’ve already published over 400 of these on our website.
You can see a list of services showing the new IPC information and read our full plan by visiting the website.
Visiting a care home
As part of our plan to monitor IPC over winter we also discuss visiting.
When thinking about visiting (both people coming in and going out), you must follow Government guidelines, give sufficient weight to local risks and advice from your Director of Public Health, give consideration to the home environment and all decisions stay under review as circumstances change.
However, we do expect care homes to discuss visitation as part of individual care plans including considering whether residents have exceptional circumstances to consider in those plans, and we'll look for these on inspection. Person centred care has never been more important and recognising that part of people’s identity and wellbeing comes from their relationships is critical. Meeting people’s holistic needs means an individualised approach.
 Our Transitional Regulatory Approach
Our transitional regulatory approach has now started in adult social care and builds on what we learned during the height of the pandemic. You can find out more information through;
We'd like your feedback on the prompts that inspectors may use during their monitoring of adult social care providers. The development of our monitoring approach is an iterative process and your feedback will help to improve it over time.
You can access our survey and share your views through our digital participation platform by signing up or logging in.
Feedback on CQC's approach during the coronavirus pandemic
Supporting this year's Annual Provider Survey, we are keen to understand the views of people who work in health and social care on whether CQC has developed a supportive approach during the Coronavirus pandemic.
It would be very helpful if you could spare a couple of minutes to complete this short survey.
Share your feedback on changes to our Market Oversight Guidance - closes 19th October.
There are only a few days left to contribute your views to proposed changes to our Market Oversight Guidance.
Support research into coronavirus
Scientists are investigating whether dogs can be trained to detect coronavirus, but to do this they first need to collect body and breath odour!
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine are looking for anyone who has recently tested positive for coronavirus, with none or mild symptoms, to get in touch and provide an odour sample. It’s simple to do, and can be done in the comfort of your own home.
For more information on the research study, please visit www.lshtm.ac.uk/covid-19-dogs, and to volunteer please call 0207 927 2777 or email coviddogs@lshtm.ac.uk
Equality impact assessment for our transitional regulatory approach
We have published an equality and human rights impact assessment that covers our regulatory transition programme. You can read the full assessment on our website.
 State of Care - launching tomorrow
We’ll be launching our annual assessment of the state of health and social care in England tomorrow, looking at the quality of care over the past year.
Download the report by visiting this page tomorrow.
Keep the music going in care
The Musical Care Taskforce, which is run by Live Music Now and Music for Dementia are holding an online session to help make sure that we continue to use the power of music for people using care and support services.
They'd like your help to keep the music going for people living and working in care. Join the session to share practice, find our more about the needs of the sector and how music can respond and shape the taskforce's role in this.
You can register your place by visiting their website.
Not signed up to their mailing list? Join here to find out about the work they or doing. You can also complete a short survey to win a free live music session or playlist training session.
Register on the PPE Portal
The Government’s PPE Portal can be used by eligible social care providers to meet the increased need for PPE that has arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, free of charge (the portal was previously for ‘emergency top-ups’). As of Tuesday 13 October, over 16,000 eligible adult social care providers (residential and domiciliary care providers) have registered on the portal, with the majority of those who registered having also ordered. The latest guidance on the PPE Portal is available on the GOV.UK website.
You can register with and access the portal here, using your email registered with the CQC.
The customer service team is available on 0800 876 6802 if you have questions about using the PPE portal, including about registration, ordering or if you believe you are eligible and have not been invited. The team is available from 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week, to help resolve your queries.
Claiming a refund of Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS)
Health and care workers can apply for a refund of any IHS they paid to cover the period from 31 March 2020.
If you employ staff in your service, you can share this information to let them know.
They must have worked in an eligible health or care role for at least 6 months since 31 March 2020, working for an average of at least 16 hours a week. If colleagues meet these conditions, their dependents are also entitled to a refund.
Find our more information by visiting the GOV.UK website.
A Telling Experience
Understanding the impact of Covid-19 on people who access care and support
Think Local Act Personal's (TLAP) latest report aims to identify what worked well, and to highlight areas that people found difficult, both generally and in relation to social care during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, seen through the lens of personalisation.
Read a brief summary or download the full report by visiting their website.
Review on using Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation during the pandemic
We’ve been asked by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to review how Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions were used during the coronavirus pandemic, building on concerns that we reported earlier in the year.
The scope and methodology of this work is being developed at pace but it’s expected to look at people’s experiences in care homes, primary care and hospitals.
We’re expecting to publish interim findings later this year and a final report in early 2021.
You can find out more information and read the full news story by visiting the website.
Developing our strategy
In his latest blog, Ian Trenholm, introduces a new document sharing our latest thinking on our strategy. He discusses how our engagement so far has shaped our thinking and raised further questions to explore ahead of a formal consultation in January.
Read the document on our digital participation platform.
|
|
 |
Join our upcoming webinars - places going fast!
In our latest webinar series, we will be exploring our Transitional Regulatory Approach and our emerging strategy for 2021.
These one-hour webinars, are aimed at providers, health and social care professionals, strategic partners and trade associations.
For more information and to book your place on the adult social care webinar visit our Eventbrite page.
No spaces available? Don't worry. We'll be recording the webinars and sharing on our YouTube channel with our previous series on our emerging strategic themes.
|
|
 |
Listen to our podcasts
Podcasts covering all of the potential themes for our emerging strategy are now available, including Meeting people's needs, Smarter regulation, Systems, Promoting Safe Care for People and Driving Improvement.
Listen via Soundcloud or your favourite podcast provider, and subscribe to hear the latest episodes first.
|
|
 |
All CQC offices are closed
Please do not send post - visit our website for details on how to contact us.
Accessibility resources to help you communicate about COVID-19
Follow us on Twitter!
Keep up with our work with professionals and provider organisations in England by following us on Twitter @CQCProf.
|
|
