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 heath and care providers and rapidly developing guidance may have led to decisions concerning DNACPR being incorrectly conflated with other clinical assessments around critical care. Health
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.
Pulse Oximetry online survey
There's still time to complete The National Institute of Health Research survey on your experiences of using pulse oximetry monitors with your residents. It's open until 6 April and you can access the survey here.
There's also a helpful letter here with more information.
Completing this survey isn't a regulatory requirement and all answers will be anonymised. If you wish to find out more detail about this research, you can contact the study team.
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 service's 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 for providers
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.
The pressures in social care were heightened in 2020 due to the pandemic. We've 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.
The survey is open until Monday 5 April 2021 and you can complete it here.
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.
Lateral flow testing (LFT) for CQC inspectors
Our inspectors will now be doing Lateral Flow Tests (LFT) on the morning of all inspections.
We're pleased to announce that inspectors will be taking an LFT as an additional measure to the weekly polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests they have been doing.
This update to our existing testing programmes is being followed as part of updated government guidance for visiting professionals. You can find more information on this here.
Inspectors will be able to provide picture evidence of their test result on arrival to your service.
Reminder: Research project on impacts of hot weather on care homes and their residents
We're supporting the ClimaCare research project run by University College London (UCL), Oxford Brookes University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). It is looking into the impact of climate change on care settings, in particular at what can be done to mitigate the impact of rising temperatures and overheating.
The project is starting in a number of care homes in London, Newcastle and Manchester over summer (covid allowing).It will monitor the indoor environment during periods of hot weather and the response of residents and staff to heat.
ClimaCare are looking for providers to participate. There will be no expense for participating, and you will receive tailored advice from international experts on how to improve your resilience in hot weather and heat waves.
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) by 15 April.
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 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 vaccination: your questions answered
Over a million social care workers have now received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine – a significant milestone, helping make sure those who care for others are better protected against coronavirus.
However, there may be colleagues who still have questions or concerns about being vaccinated. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have created a special addition to their Adult Social Care Update bulletin with resources will help you find the reassurance you and your staff need.
DHSC's communications toolkit provides a summary of resources stored online in their Google Drive. It is updated every week with new content.
Please feel free to share through your own social media channels and other networks to help colleagues make informed decisions.
For more DHSC resources on vaccination please visit their page here.
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. More information and guidance is available on the Death of a person using the service section of our website.
Care for others. Make a difference.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are continuing their national recruitment campaign Care for others. Make a difference. Last year this campaign helped to increase national interest and applications for adult social careers. You can use the campaign to increase your workforce through the coverage it’s generating.
Below are some quick and easy ways that you could take part in the campaign and increase the visibility of your organisation to potential applicants;
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Upload your vacancies to DWP ‘Find a Job’
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Find expert resourcing advice, templates, assets, and badging here
Mental Health Support for care workers
The Care Worker’s Charity (CWC) has launched Mental Health Support for people working in social care.
Many of you have been on the frontline during the pandemic, caring for the most vulnerable members of our society. In doing this you may be struggling with anxiety, exhaustion, and a number of stress related mental health needs.
The CWC are offering up to 10 hours of counselling with a qualified therapist from Red Umbrella for people working in a paid role in the UK social care sector, supporting adult, elderly or disability care, such as:
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Residential care
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Domiciliary/home care
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Supported Living
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Day Care
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Private Care/ personal assistants
You can find information about the support and how to apply on the charity’s website. Your application will be reviewed within two weeks of submission.
Infection prevention and control in care homes
We've added an additional question on visiting within the ‘ Additional Mandatory questions’ section of our infection, prevention and control (IPC) tool for care homes on our website. The question is;
- 8. Is the service facilitating visits to people living at the home in accordance with current guidance?
The questions help us gather information about your service(s) where the strengths are and if there are any gaps or concerns about infection prevention and control. Where there are we aim to signpost the service to resources that could help.
You can read and find more information about the tool here.
Deadline extended: Public Health England flu vaccination campaign
Public Health England (PHE) recently ran a campaign to encourage social care workers in England to get vaccinated against the flu.
They are keen to know how effective the campaign was and to learn what social care workers thought of it. This will help them improve their plans and communications next year.
PHE has asked Kantar Public, an independent research company, to survey social care workers.
You can take part by clicking on this link, which will take you to an online survey. You will not be asked for any information that could identify you and the results will only be used by PHE to improve next year’s campaign. You will not receive any further marketing or research contacts as a result of taking part. The closing date for responses has been extended to 5pm on 26 March.
The survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete, and your views will help inform and improve future campaigns.
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.
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.
All CQC offices are closed
Please do not send post - visit our website for details on how to contact us.
There is now an overview of adult social care guidance on the GOV UK website
COVID-19 Vaccine resources
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.
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