I had to chuckle when I read the CQC Emergency Support Framework. Billed as a supportive process, it would appear to be anything but. It is however not a laughing matter. It appears to be a way to gather information about providers outside of the regulatory framework to use against them at a future date. …
CQC’s Emergency Support Framework – not all it’s cracked up to be Read More »
The CQC has been changing the way it works in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Routine inspections have been suspended and work has been focused on more urgent matters. However, their regulatory obligations have not fallen away. Dr Kevin Cleary, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals gave a public statement on the CQC’s website on 8 …
CQC on Protecting people’s safety, equality and rights during the coronavirus outbreak Read More »
The CQC have been updating its guidance to providers on a rolling basis as the coronavirus pandemic develops. Under the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, providers are required to make statutory notifications to the CQC when certain events happen at a service. The CQC’s coronavirus guidance on their website currently confirms that an instance …
Notifications to the CQC during the COVID-19 Pandemic Read More »
With the speed at which this global pandemic is developing, is it accepted that corners will be cut in the health and social care sector and the slack will be picked up at some point in the future? And if so, does the Care Quality Commission have the same view? On 16 March 2020, the …
When a major event occurs at a home, be it a death or a serious incident, there will be many authorities and bodies interested in what has happened, and what is happening, at the home. This is likely to include the police, the CQC, commissioners, and the local authority in its safeguarding role. Additionally, following …
What happens when a critical incident occurs at your care service? Read More »
It often feels that Providers have limited opportunities to have their say and defend their corner against the CQC. It can appear that the system is stacked against them. Providers should ensure they are aware of all of the systems available to respond to the CQC, in order to capitalise on every opportunity to have …
Holding the CQC to account: a flawed system – Ridout Report -March 2020 Read More »
In last month’s edition of Caring Times, I wrote about the CQC’s power to suspend a provider’s rating when it had concerns that the current rating was possibly no longer reflective of the care being provided to service users. I had highlighted my concern that the only information available to providers was a sentence in …
The Paterson Inquiry was established following the conviction of Ian Paterson, a doctor suspected to have harmed more than 1,000 patients, who was eventually convicted of 17 counts of wounding with intent and 3 counts of unlawful wounding. The Inquiry, chaired by the Right Reverend Graham James was tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding Mr …
Ridouts has been made aware that CQC has removed a number of inspection reports from publication following concerns that an expert by experience had duplicated quotes and evidence across different providers’ reports, making the evidence base of the reports unsound. It has been suggested that as a result of the conduct of the expert by …
CQC inspection reports pulled due to conduct of “expert by experience” Read More »
The CQC have been pretty quiet for a few weeks. This isn’t surprising given that they have to respect the “election period” which puts restrictions on what public bodies can publish and announce. The “election period” has run since 0.01am on 6 November 2019 and will run until after the general election later this week. …
The general election looms: can we expect a flurry of CQC activity afterwards? Read More »
Ridouts is a team of specialist health and social care lawyers, providing dedicated legal advice for care homes, GP practices, children’s homes, dental practices, domiciliary and home care agencies, supported and independent living services and both private and NHS hospitals.
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