Care England Policy Insight (06.12.2023)

 

Government response to the consultation on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices

Government to work with CQC to introduce new fundamental standards that focus on visiting and they intend to lay necessary regulations in Parliament to introduce these standards as soon as possible.
Through this new standard, CQC will be able to specifically include visiting considerations as part of its wider regulatory assessment of providers.
Visiting will be put on the same level as other fundamental standards (such as nutritional and hydration needs of service users). This will highlight the importance of visiting to providers and all stakeholders and ensure that providers account for the vital role that visiting plays.
 
New guidance will include:

  • Legislation to help create a consistent understanding of what is acceptable across all relevant providers.

  • Enforcement by the CQC as part of its existing civil enforcement powers.

  • A clear complaints process guidance for when issues do arise.

  • A provision in regulations that residents should be encouraged to take visits out of the care home to support their wellbeing.

Exclusions from new guidance:

  • Services for substance misuse and inpatient detoxification or rehabilitation

  • Supported living settings and ‘extra care’ housing schemes

Timeframes for implementation:

  • No exact dates given, simply “We intend to progress with secondary legislation to amend CQC Regulations to make visiting a new fundamental standard as soon as possible.”

Read the DHSC Guidance in full here. 

 

National Disability Strategy

The Women and Equalities Committee have published their first of three papers (seehere) on the National Disability Strategy, which suggests the Government has not learnt lessons from the concerns raised over the development of the strategy, and warns the Government's efforts to engage with disabled people are perceived to be superficial. 

The paper published this week concludes that instead of establishing a long-term vision to transform the everyday lives of disabled people, the government produced a disability strategy in name only, with disabled people and their representative organisation having little to no influence. The Committee noted that only a strategy which integrates different policy areas such as education, health, social care, education and transport, will have a truly transformational effect.

Care England submitted evidence to the National Disability Strategy consultation and gave oral evidence to the committee to help shape the findings of this paper. We remain committed to advocating for the inclusion of social care in the shaping of relevant policies. 

 

Duty of candour review: terms of reference

The Department of Health and Social Care has announced that they will lead a review into the effectiveness of the statutory duty of candour for health and social care providers in England.
The duty of candour is about people’s right to openness and transparency from their health or care provider. It means that when something goes wrong during the provision of health and care services, patients and families have a right to receive explanations for what happened as soon as possible and a meaningful apology.
The duty of candour is set out in regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The duty has been in place for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts since 2014 and for all other providers regulated by the Care Quality Commission since 2015.
Read the full DHSC update here.

 

CQC: Our new assessment approach- update December 2023

From 21 November, the CQC started using the new assessment approach with a small number of providers across various types of service and sectors.
The CQC reported that so far the process has been communicated well, with a few teething issues but their main assessor/inspector has communicated honestly with them about this. CQC said that the honest open communication has been the best part of the process so far.
As part of the December update, the CQC have announced their plans to develop a new section of guidance for providers: our new approach to assessment. This includes:

They also provide guidance on how the assessment process will work.

 

How digital technology can positively impact people who draw on care and support

Skills for Care spoke with a Workforce Experts Advisory Group to get insights from people who draw on care and support and social care staff about what they think digital priorities should be and the positive impact which digital can have for people supported.
Some of the key priorities for digital support which the advisory group highlighted were:

  • knowing how to stay safe online – such as being able to identify fake and scam messages, and avoiding viruses;

  • how to use digital transport services and resources such as Google maps, bus trackers and Uber;

  • how to use digital tools to complete tasks like online banking, ordering prescriptions, and claiming benefits;

  • using assistive technology such as Alexas and smartwatches;

  • knowing how to get the most out of their digital products and making them accessible, for example using voice commands to write messages.

Read the full Skills For Care article here.

 

Tenders and contract opportunities for adult social care

The link below lists recent tender and contract opportunities for adult social care providers to consider.  

 
Care EnglandRemote Digitalpolicy