The CQC makes judgements about the quality of the services it inspects by following its own processes. Some questions whether the regulator is justified in making such judgements. A recent case of note against the CQC, which is presently going through the courts, succeeded in part. It found that there was a case to answer …
The CQC is changing its approach to how it regulates GP practices. My colleague, Gemma Nicholas, recently wrote an article outlining the CQC’s new strategy and regulatory approach and what this might mean for practices. The CQC has released further detail on how it intends to assess providers within its new regulatory model; including its …
How The CQC Will Score Practices Under Its New Regulatory Approach Read More »
On Monday 19 September 2022 the UK is having a bank holiday to mourn and commemorate Queen Elizabeth II who reigned for 70 years. This official bank holiday extends to GP services who will be allowed to close for the day on the Queens funeral. NHS England wrote a letter (“The Letter”) to GPs on …
Care home residents and staff are set to be among the first in the world to receive the new, variant-tackling jabs from Monday 12 September 2022. This is part of the NHS COVID-19 autumn vaccination programme. Furthermore, to encourage protection, GPs will be incentivised to deliver ‘accelerated’ COVID-19 autumn boosters, with payments up to a …
A recent poll by GP Online found that four in five GP partners said that their practice had been unable to recruit a locum doctor when they needed one within the past six months. Locum GPs have become increasingly important in recent years given the current workforce crisis and the survey also found that nearly …
How staffing levels can affect your CQC inspection rating Read More »
On 22 June 2022, the UK’s Health authorities declared a national incident regarding the detection of the polio virus in London sewage and as such, have informed the World Health Organisation (“WHO”). This is following the United Kingdom’s Health Security Agency (“UKHSA”) finding traces of the polio virus in samples collected from the London Beckton …
Earlier this year the British Social Attitudes (“BSA”) survey found that public satisfaction with GP services had hit its lowest point since the survey first began in 1983. Satisfaction with GP services dropped to 65% in 2017 – down seven percentage points compared with the previous year, and the biggest one-year change since the survey …
Low Patient satisfaction could lead to increase in complaints and CQC inspections Read More »
On 14 April 2022, the Government introduced new ‘stepping down’ rules which apply to NHS hospitals, GP surgeries and emergency departments. As part of these rules, in England, there is no longer a requirement for patients to socially distance in waiting rooms. This is demonstrative of the Government’s ‘Living with COVID-19’ approach that they are …
Patients in waiting rooms in England are no longer required to socially distance Read More »
Over the last two years, many have predicted that there would be an upsurge in GP complaints, owing to the changes in working practices to cope with COVID-19. This article explores what primary medical service providers can do to strengthen their complaints processes with the aim of avoiding falling foul of Regulations 16 and 17 …
How does the CQC expect practices to handle complaints? Read More »
Under the CQC’s current approach to focusing inspection activity where they deem there to be a risk, GP practices can expect to start experiencing more negative on-site inspections than they might have been used to, and enforcement activity could become more common. The CQC has various powers of enforcement but one of the most draconian …
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.
info@ridout-law.com • +44 (0) 207 317 0340
7-10 Chandos Street, W1G 9DQ, London
