 The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has launched a consultation on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices. The consultation will inform their decisions around making visiting rules mandatory for the good of people who use services.
They want to ensure that visiting (including accompanying people to hospital appointments) is protected and that it remains a priority for health and care providers so that people can receive visitors whenever it is reasonable and safe.
Share your views by 11.59pm, 16 August 2023.
 DHSC has launched a consultation on the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice on statutory learning disability and autism training. This code of practice outlines how CQC-registered health and social care providers can meet the legislative requirement to ensure their staff receive training on learning disability and autism, appropriate to their role. This requirement has been in force since 1 July 2022 – further information on this requirement can be found on our website.
We believe it’s essential that autistic people and people with a learning disability have access to safe, high-quality care. We have closely engaged with DHSC on the implementation of the training requirement and the development of this code of practice.
The consultation is open until 19 September 2023. If you’d like to respond, please see the government’s website.
 A new online advice service to help the NHS and wider care system adopt and make use of new digital and AI technologies launched this month.
The AI and Digital Regulations Service provides guidance for NHS and social care adopters and digital health innovators.
The service offers:
- a website providing centralised, curated and up-to-date regulatory content for both developers and adopters of AI and data-driven technologies; and
- access to specialist support for both developers and adopters from the service partners.
The service is a multi-agency collaboration between CQC, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Health Research Authority and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and is funded by the NHS AI Lab.
The site provides comprehensive guidance at each stage of the adoption pathway all in one place. The service can also respond to individual enquiries, making connections with relevant services or system partners.
Director of Technology, Anthony Snape, said, “The use of AI in health and care settings is increasing and developing rapidly. This exciting service is an example of how CQC is instrumental in driving technology-based change that ultimately brings improvements in how we ensure that people experience safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care.”
The guiding principles for delegated healthcare activity were launched last month. Skills for Care and DHSC are entering a 6 month testing and feedback period to test the guiding principles in practice. They're looking for up to 6 local initiatives that are using the guiding principles in their work to learn from.
Detailed information about the work, how to apply, expectations, benefits to those involved and timelines are included in the expression of interest form, as well as the guiding principles and supporting resources. The deadline for expressing your interest in being involved is Friday 7 July 2023.
Image shows a screen shot from the ASC-WDS system
Sharing your data in Skills for Care’s Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) helps to produce accurate insights about the sector. DHSC relies on these insights to understand the sector and those who work in it. They use it to inform decisions about the future of social care.
The data can also help you in your workplace. By accessing the free benchmarking tool, you can see how you’re performing on factors like pay and turnover, and how you compare to similar providers. This is a valuable workforce planning tool which can help you understand your workforce and make informed decisions about its future. For example, it can help to inform pay reviews and develop staff retention plans.
This summer, the benchmarking feature is expanding to include even more useful data for you to use, including registered nurse and registered manager pay.
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