Ridouts Solicitors

Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act

ridouts — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:21:08 +0000

The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) has made high profile news recently with a number of authors, including His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman, announcing that they will cease regular readings in schools if required to register with the ISA. Regrettably, much of the resulting media coverage was ill-informed. This article therefore presents a FAQ about the[...]

Registration requirements under the Health and Social Care Act 2008

ridouts — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:18:44 +0000

Under the Care Standards Act 2000, care homes and agencies were subject to registration if they fell within the definitions provided under the Act. For example, an establishment was subject to registration as a care home if it provided accommodation together with personal care or nursing (if assistance with bodily functions was also provided if required). The[...]

Registration with CQC: Newly in scope

ridouts — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:58:49 +0000

CQC ‘s re-registration program is well under way and care providers across England are working furiously to complete their applications within the 28 day window that they have been assigned. Many have already completed the process. Providers with existing registration have found it difficult to negotiate the new system and have had to adjust to the[...]

CQC report shows improvement in safe management of controlled drugs

ridouts — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:07:29 +0000

5th August 2010 CQC have today published a report showing the continued improvement of controlled drug management by health and social care organisations. As part of the irregulatory work they have been asked to report to government annually on how safer management has been since the case of Dr Harold Shipman. Controlled drugs under the report include morphine,[...]

Proposal to change all NHS Trusts into NHS Foundation Trusts by 2013

ridouts — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:28:53 +0000

28 July 2010 A Department of Health consultation published Monday 26th of July 2010 proposes to turn all remaining NHS trusts into foundation trusts by 2013. It is hoped that this will improve outcomes by removing the statutory private income cap, removing the statutory borrowing limits, making it easier for foundation trusts to merge with other trusts and giving[...]

Arms length bodies abolished

ridouts — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:24:20 +0000

27 July 2010 The Department of Health have announced that a number of bodies will be abolished in order to save up to £180 million and any duties that they carry out will be spread around to other Arms length bodies. These are (subject to parliamentary approval): Alcohol Education and Research Council Appointments Commission Health Protection Agency National Patients Safety Agency National[...]

Application errors tie up CQC

ridouts — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:07:36 +0000

22 July 2010 It has been revealed that nearly 1 in 6 adult care providers have made mistakes in applying to register with CQC. Since 1st April 1343 of the 8954 applications submitted have contained errors meaning that the application had to be returned for clarification. Providers have blamed CQC for the errors saying they are related to[...]

Adult care funding commission launched

ridouts — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:08:22 +0000

20th July 2010 The government have today launched the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support which will be headed by former health minister Lord Norman Warner, Jo Williams, the acting chair of the Care Quality Commission and Andrew Dilnot who was the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The Commission will provide recommendations on[...]

Fears that service users are being wrongly detained in care homes

ridouts — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:41:24 +0000

15 July 2010 A report by the Mental Health Alliance claims that health and social care professionals do not clearly understand the deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS) and that this has led to the unjustified detention of people with severe learning disabilities or dementia in a care setting. DoLS were introduced in April 2009 under the Mental[...]

Low morale at CQC driven by overwork and safety concerns

ridouts — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:46:55 +0000

12 July 2010 CQC’s annual staff survey has revealed that just 14% of staff had confidence in it’s executive board and only 18% felt morale was high in their part of the organisation. Unison, which represents CQC staff believe that this response is down to the fact that inspectors fear that their ability to keep service users[...]