 Following pilot work in 2020, and the consultation on flexible regulation that took place earlier this year, ASC Inspectors can now undertake care at home inspections without a site visit for home care (domiciliary care agencies) and extra care housing services, if key criteria are met.
We have developed this methodology as an additional tool for inspectors to use so they can gather the evidence for home care services without the need to visit. We've updated our website with information on this methodology.
 The CQC fees scheme, which covers all our costs of regulation, including registration, monitoring and inspection will not change next year – in 2022/23.
This means that, for many providers, your fees will have remained the same for the last three years, unless you have changed your registration – for example, adding locations or service types. As in previous years, NHS trusts, NHS GPs and community social care providers may also see a change to their fees from April 2022 (up or down), as we update the variables (turnover, list size, number of people using the service) used to calculate their fees.
Since there is no change to our fees scheme, we will not be consulting on fees this year.
You can find out more about our fees scheme, how to pay fees, an update on non-payment of fees, and the fees calculator at www.cqc.org.uk/fees.
 We are currently looking at improving the ways providers register with us and send us notifications. We'd like your help as someone leading or working for a social care provider. This might be a quick conversation, or a more in-depth interview about you and your work in relation to CQC. Anyone can sign up (we run research with different providers all the time). We would like to speak to you whether you are new or experienced in your role.
Please sign up if you are willing for us to contact you.
Research sessions are never more than an hour. We are currently running all our research online or over the phone.
In a new blog, Victoria Watkins, Deputy Chief Inspector lead for children and young people, and Jemima Burnage, Deputy Chief Inspector of mental health, discuss our latest provider collaboration review, which focused on mental health care of children and young people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Skills for Care has officially launched the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS).
Skills for Care has been collating data about the social care sector since 2005 when the National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC) was established. NMDS-SC evolved from a paper collection to an online service and was eventually replaced by ASC-WDS which was released with its core functionality in 2019. The official launch marks the next stage for the service. ASC-WDS provides a secure place to manage staff records and training needs. An up-to-date ASC-WDS account also means providers are eligible to claim from the Workforce Development Fund.
Crucially, by using ASC-WDS social care providers are contributing important insights about our sector and workforce. This data underpins the development of Skills for Care’s annual reports, including the recently released ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report, and is used by key stakeholders including the Government to aid planning and shape policies about the sector.
 We're supporting the ClimaCare research project, looking into the impact of climate change, in particular at how to mitigate the impact of rising temperatures and overheating. The project has almost 40 care homes already participating, and is remotely monitoring the indoor environment and the response of residents and staff.
There are still have vacancies for interested services - any care home in England can participate. You will receive tailored advice from international experts on how to improve your resilience in hot weather and heat waves. Further information is available here, and if you are interested in taking part please email April Cole at CQC (April.cole@cqc.org.uk) or Professor Rajat Gupta at Oxford Brookes University (rgupta@brookes.ac.uk).
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is conducting research on NHS-Funded Nursing Care (FNC): if your nursing home has residents who are eligible for FNC, we’d like to hear from you. Any information you can give will provide valuable insights to inform the 2022-23 FNC rate and assess the impact of COVID-19 on FNC and associated costs in 2021-22.
Take part in the research
To participate, you will be asked to provide:
- Information about your nursing home
- Information about shift hours for a recent payroll period
- Nursing payroll costs for May and October 2021
Nursing homes should have received an email with an excel template for completion. If you have not received this, would like support in completing the template or any further information, please contact the team on fnc@dhsc.gov.uk, who will be happy to help.
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