CQC appointed its new Chief Executive to the Board, Ian Trenholm. He is due to take over the role in July 2018 when Sir David Behan leaves. Mr Trenholm started his career in the police service before moving on to roles including Chief Operating Officer at Defra and Chief Executive of the Royal Borough of …
Challenging CQC’s Evidence Base – as published in Caring Times Read More »
The magnitude of the Court of Appeal judgment in Royal Mencap Society v Tomlinson-Blake and Shannon v Rampersad [2018] EWCA Civ 164 should not be underestimated by health and social care providers. This appeal considered the issue of backdated “sleep in” liabilities and whether “sleep in” workers were entitled to the National Minimum Wage (‘NMW’) …
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has become the regulator in law for nursing associates – the new health and care role designed to bridge the gap between unregulated health care assistants and registered nurses. In 2015, Health Education England’s Shape of Caring review , identified a gap in skills and knowledge between health care assistants and …
Huge steps forward in sector as as NMC becomes regulator for nursing associates Read More »
The 2018 Football World Cup was the first in history where live Video Assistant Referees (VAR) were brought in with the ambition of improving the quality or refereeing decisions. It hoped to achieve this by bringing to the referee’s attention in real time points of play which might have eluded them otherwise. CQC allows its …
The largest representative body for independent providers of adult social care, Care England, has responded to the Competition and Market Authority’s consultation document on draft advice on consumer law for care home providers. Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England has said:- “Unfortunately the CMA has limited the scope of its draft guidance …
Problems with bed shortages have reached an all time high. In a bid to alleviate a serious bed shortage Halton Council has purchased two new care homes. A report from the board showed that the current level of care is not sustainable. Vacancy rates are at five per cent which is worse than the national …
Council purchases two new care homes to help stop bed shortage Read More »
BUPA has been fined £3million following the death of a service user who contracted Legionnaires’ disease and died. This Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution is significant because it looks at large company fine levels. Ipswich Crown Court heard that the service user moved into a BUPA care home in March 2015 and died three …
An important lesson in Legionella management and large company fines Read More »
Ofsted’s annual report has revealed an increasing number of complaints are being upheld than they were previously. In terms of statistics, between 2017 and 2018, 20% of complaints were either upheld or partially upheld at the second stage of Ofsted’s complaints procedure, compared to 17% between 2016 and 2017. With regards to complaints reaching the …
Annual report reveals increasing number of complaints about Ofsted Read More »
The Court of Appeal has reversed an Employment Tribunal judgment which could have cost the care sector £400m in back pay to staff. The ruling relates to social care workers who had been paid a flat rate for shifts where they slept in a patient’s house or at a care home to provide support if necessary, known …
Court of Appeal overturns £400m sleep-in shift ruling in favour of Mencap Read More »
As David Behan prepares to depart his position as Chief Executive of the CQC this is a good opportunity to consider the impact that he has had on the health and social care sector. Having inherited an organisation on the brink of destruction, thanks to the mismanagement of Cynthia Bower and the effects of the …
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