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Following a consultation in the summer of 2023, a new fundamental standard on visiting and accompaniment in care homes, hospitals and hospices is being introduced by the Government in April this year. We have produced draft guidance to help providers and other stakeholders understand the new standard, and their roles and responsibilities under it. The guidance also sets out what people using relevant health and social care services and their families, friends or advocates can expect.
We're currently consulting on this guidance. Our consultation – which is limited to our guidance about the new fundamental standard and does not cover the scope and content of the visiting legislation itself – is open for your comments until midday on Tuesday 20th February. We’ll publish the results shortly after that.
 Two healthcare workers talking with text overlaid 'The world of health and social care is changing. So are we'.
We're introducing a new regulatory model based on a single assessment framework, which we have started to use across the country. Alongside this work we're also starting to roll out our new provider portal.
In 2023, we launched a communication campaign to ensure all health & social care providers understood these changes, what it means for them and how they can prepare.
To help measure the success of this campaign, we'd like to know how well you understand these changes in 2024. Share your feedback through this short survey.
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We have enlisted THIS Institute at the University of Cambridge and RAND Europe to conduct an independent evaluation and review of the National Maternity Inspection Programme. The goal is to inform CQC’s approach to assessing maternity and to define good quality care to support maternity services to improve.
As part of the project, THIS institute are seeking views on eight features they think are critical to delivering safe, high quality maternity care. You can share your views on these features by completing an online survey.
THIS Institute encourages input from various stakeholders and the survey is open until Tuesday 6 February. The findings from the project are expected in April 2024.
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Last year’s survey and interviews on medicines sustainability showed that 93% of respondents agreed it was important to work towards reducing the environmental impact of their services. However, over half of respondents (55%) told us they had faced challenges or barriers to improving medicines sustainability in their organisation.
To build on this learning, we’re planning a series of online focus groups to better understand how medicines sustainability can be improved in individual providers and systems. If you work in health and social care or the wider healthcare industry, we are interested in hearing about your work in this area and how we can drive innovation. We plan to cover:
- What does ‘good’ medicines sustainability look like in your service?
- How are technology and digital systems being used in health and social care to drive medicines sustainability?
- Pilot to adoption: Making medicines sustainability business-as-usual
- Opportunities for medicines sustainability in the patient journey
If you'd like to take part in the focus groups, please complete and submit this form.
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The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has removed the statutory requirement for a full employment history with respect to volunteers in health and care settings. It means that employers are no longer required to request this information from volunteer applicants if deemed unnecessary.
This amendment to legislation came into effect on 15 January, following a consultation last year. It aims to help streamline volunteer recruitment processes, remove barriers for applicants, and reduce administrative burden for service providers.
More information can be found on the NHS Employers website. The consultation response and details of the legislation amendment can be found on the DHSC website. We will publish updated guidance in due course and will share details through this bulletin once that has been done.
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