Protect, respect, connect - decisions about living and dying well during COVID-19
We were commissioned by the Department for Health and Social Care, under section 48 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to conduct a special review of Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our interim report published in December 2020 found that a combination of unprecedented pressure on health and care providers and rapidly developing guidance may have led to decisions concerning DNACPR being incorrectly conflated with other clinical assessments around critical care.
We have now published our final report, Protect, respect, connect –decisions about living and dying well during COVID-19, which shares our full findings and recommendations.
You can read our full press release, report and easy ready on our website. You can also read a blog from Dr Rosie Benneyworth, Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care, in which she discusses the findings and the importance of good end of life care planning.
Latest COVID-19 Insight report and provider collaboration review published
We have published two new reports: the most recent COVID-19 Insight report and findings from our latest provider collaboration review (PCR). These share findings from activity in urgent and emergency care over the pandemic.
The PCR report shares the full findings of reviews of urgent and emergency care in eight areas of England. The insight report looks at inspections of acute hospital emergency departments which took place in winter 2020. It identifies key factors affecting services’ ability to provide a good standard of care in winter 2020. It also shares how chief pharmacists and medicines optimisation leaders in NHS trusts assured themselves of safe medicines practice during the pandemic.
We would encourage system leaders and providers to review these reports and to consider how they might use the learning now to work together and plan for the coming winter. This will help ensure people can access high-quality safe care in the right place, at the right time.
Visit our website to read the COVID-19 Insight report, the provider collaboration report, and the news story.
State of Care evaluation
We'd like to know your thoughts on our State of Care report published in October 2020, please complete the survey here to provide your feedback.
Many of you will know that the pressures in social care were heightened in 2020 due to the pandemic. We have seen the hard work that has gone into keeping people safe in care settings, and providers collaborating to support this work. Social care staff have persevered through this time and supported residents and people that use their services in new and additional ways to their role.
We would value your thoughts on the findings from State of Care 2019/2020, please use the survey to provide your feedback. We've also included some questions on our COVID-19 Insight Reports to understand your thoughts on them.
Please complete the survey by Monday 5th April 2021.
Evaluating CQC's transitional regulatory approach
From October 2020 CQC introduced its transitional regulatory approach. The purpose of this approach was to ensure we continued to deliver our core purpose of keeping people safe as well as support providers of health and social care during the pandemic.
To help us continue to develop our approach and understand what we may need to change we would like to hear your views on our transitional approach through this short survey.
Area SEND inspections to restart
Area SEND inspections, which CQC carry out jointly with Ofsted, are set to begin again. They were paused in March 2020, owing to the impact of COVID-19. From April 2021, we will start revisiting areas where we had significant concerns about SEND provision when we last inspected them.
Improvements to CQC notifications
We are making changes to our notification forms to make them easier for you to use and improve the quality of information collected.
In the last month we have made improvements to the SN16 Death Notification available through the CQC Portal. Making it more comprehensive to allow us to better capture and report on data around vulnerable communities, and making it easier for you to use.
Using the CQC portal will ensure the best experience when submitting a notification to CQC. If you are submitting a notification using a form make sure you are using the latest version by downloading from our website each time you submit a notification.
Visit our website and read our mythbuster for information about what you need to notify CQC about and how you can do it and we’ll let you know through this bulletin as more forms are updated
CQC Podcasts: Sexual Safety Through Empowerment
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Listen back to our recent podcast episode that discussed our 'Sexual safety through empowerment publication' and Skills for Care's new guidance on supporting personal relationships.
You can find all our podcast episodes on Soundcloud and most other major podcast providers.
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COVID-19 vaccinations and CQC notifications
The COVID-19 vaccination programme is the largest in NHS history and providers are working hard to ensure its smooth delivery. The vaccination programme is proving to be overwhelmingly safe.
We would like to remind providers however of the requirement to inform CQC of a service users death that is (or may be) linked to the delivery of a regulated activity.
In the unfortunate event that a death follows the administration of the vaccine, and is thought to possibly be linked to it, please inform us using the ‘Death of a person using the service – notification form’ which can be accessed through the CQC provider portal.
Visit our website and read our mythbuster for information about what you need to notify CQC about and how you can do it
Latest COVID-19 vaccination news
You can find all the latest news on the COVID-19 vaccination programme on the GOV.UK website. Including the latest guidance, bulletins and lots more.
Information on UKAS accreditation for providers of commercial coronavirus testing can be found on our website.
Prescribing for third parties
The GMC has published updated prescribing guidance, Good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and medical devices (2021), which will come into effect on 5 April.
This covers responsibilities when agreeing to prescribe for patients at the request of a third party, including recommendations for treatment from providers (including online) based outside the UK.
New guidance on continuing regulatory history
From 1 April 2019, CQC changed how our website shows the ‘regulatory history’ of locations where health and care services are carried out. For registration applications completed from that date, where there is a change of ownership or address at an existing location (service), the previous ‘regulatory history’ of the location (its rating and inspection report) will continue to be displayed against the new location. We will not apply this retrospectively to applications completed before 1 April 2019.
Updated guidance on meeting the duty of candour
We have updated our guidance for providers on Regulation 20 - the duty of candour. This is to make it clear what providers must do to meet the requirements of the regulation and the circumstances in which it must be applied.
The regulation puts a legal duty on all health and social care providers to be open and transparent with people using services, and their families, in relation to their treatment and care.
The guidance will support providers in all sectors to fully understand the duty and know what they have to do to carry it out. In turn, this will have a positive impact on people using those services. Visit our website to see the guidance.
Updated guidance on the adult trans care pathway
We have updated our guidance for providers for:
The adult trans care pathway focuses on the care of people with: variations of sex characteristics (VSC); trans people aged 17 years and older and transitioning their gender; and non-binary people aged 17 years and older and transitioning their gender.
Human Tissue Authority: Important regulatory changes regarding the import or export of human tissues and
cells between Great Britain (GB) and the European Economic Area (EEA)
The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) is the regulator of human tissue, cells and organs in the United Kingdom. Their regulatory oversight extends to the use of human tissues and cells for human application (patient treatment).
Regulatory changes came into effect following EU Exit. These changes apply to establishments based in GB that send (export) or receive (import) human tissues or cells between GB and a country in the EEA. If you wish to continue these activities from 1 July 2021, you may require a HTA licence.
Who is affected?
If you import or export human tissues and cells for human application, you will need a HTA licence. Examples of human application include:
- using bone, pericardium, and dermal tissue products in dentistry;
- bone products used for orthopaedic treatment;
- amnion tissue products used as barriers in wound healing;
- skin grafts used to replace damaged skin tissue; and
- corneal grafts used in ocular surgery.
Please note that the above list is not exhaustive and other activities may apply.
The types of organisations that might be impacted include dental practices, dental surgeries, organisations performing cosmetic or orthopaedic procedures, and commercial distributors, who may not have required a HTA licence before EU Exit.
The changes also apply to the import and export of tissues and cells that form the starting material for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs).
Next steps
Please complete this short survey which will help the HTA determine which activities are impacted.
If you think your establishment is affected by these changes, please contact the HTA as soon as possible for advice or visit the HTA website. You can also call them on 0207 269 1900.
Other information
If your establishment requires a HTA import or export licence as a result of EU exit, you are not required to pay a licence fee for these activities in 2021/22. The HTA will announce 2022/23 licence fees in December 2021.
All CQC offices are closed
Please do not send post - visit our website for details on how to contact us.
Guidance for primary care and dental services professionals
Updated Mythbusters from CQC:
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Follow @CQCProf on Twitter to get regular updates about the work we are doing with professionals and provider organisations in England.
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