It has been an unforgettable few months for all of us. The profile of our world has changed forever and we have quickly adapted to connecting and working in ways that we never have before. For the majority, we have been lucky. We have been able to carry on with some semblance of normality with …
Past the peak: Why the fairytale ending will have to wait for the social care sector Read More »
Over the past few years the health and social care sector has witnessed increasing innovation and use of new technologies. This has skyrocketed in the recent months due to Providers finding new ways to continue to meet the demands of service users during the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of necessity and being in emergency mode, Providers …
Rapid increase in health and social care innovation in the wake of COVID-19 Read More »
The CQC have recently requested that stakeholders in the health and social care sector take part in a survey to help frame their strategy for 2021 and beyond. This survey has been published as part of the CQC’s project on “Smarter Regulation” on the citizenlab portal. The CQC says of the project: “We want to …
The CQC have recently published new guidance for its operational staff on “closed cultures” which it defines as a “poor culture in a health or care service that increases the risk of harm [including] human rights abuses”. Abuse in care has – and rightly so – been high on the CQC’s agenda for a while …
The CQC’s new “Closed Cultures” guidance – a signal of a new super-critical approach? Read More »
Introduction & Previous Guidance This is the fourth article I have written examining the developing Government guidance on the issue of admissions into care homes during the COVID- 19 pandemic. On Friday 19 June 2019, the government issued an updated version (v.2.) of its Guidance “Admission and Care of Residents in a Care Home during …
On 17 June 2020, CQC published its second insight report ‘COVID-19 Insight: Issue 2’. This report looks at the information CQC has gathered in relation to the pressures that services and local systems have faced and the efforts that have been made to tackle them. The insight report is split into the following 4 chapters: …
On 10 June 2020, a domiciliary care provider was fined £34,833 and ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge and £9,000 in costs as a result of a prosecution brought by CQC for failing to be registered. The court heard that the provider had been providing personal care to people living in their own homes …
CQC issues £34,833 fine to unregistered domiciliary care provider Read More »
The CQC is already under fire following the Wholrton Hall and Winterbourne View scandals. Various public enquiries have highlighted a number of serious concerns about the treatment of service users with learning difficulties and/or autism in Assessment and Treatment Units (“ATUs” and other mental health hospitals, and in particular on the issue of restraint. The …
There appears to be a buzz phrase going round CQC at the moment. At the May 2020 CQC Board meeting “crossing the threshold” was said a number of times by different Board members – “…nothing beats crossing the threshold…”, “…people going out, crossing thresholds to one level or another…”, “…as this infection risk does reduce …
How COVID-19 may have a Positive Effect on the Inspection Process Read More »
This article considers what will happen in the health and social care sector in terms of regulation and litigation beyond the Covid-19 crisis. CQC’s Emergency Support Framework As providers will know, CQC have paused routine inspections and introduced the Emergency Support Framework (“ESF”). CQC’s position is that the ESF is a flexible and supportive process, …
Beyond Covid-19: the legal landscape in the health and social care sector Read More »
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