CQC compliance guidance
What is the CQC?
If you’re a health and social care service provider in England, CQC compliance is a critical part of running your business – if you’re not compliant, you run the risk of financial and reputational damages or, worst case, closure.
We get that attaining, maintaining and proving CQC compliance can be complicated and time consuming, and that’s why we’re here to make it easy for you.
The role of the CQC
The CQC (Care Quality Commission) exists to independently regulate health and social care services across England. When inspecting service providers, the CQC will look at five key areas, and these are whether your service is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
The role of the CQC can be broken down into four core areas, which are to:
1. Register care providers in England
2. Monitor, inspect and rate health and social care services
3. Protect service users by acting on providers who fall short of the CQC’s standards
4. Speak with an independent voice, and air their stance on major quality issues.
What are the CQC’s fundamental standards?
The CQC has 13 fundamental standards that health and social care providers must never fail to adhere to. These fundamental standards are:
- Person-centred care
- Dignity and respect
- Consent
- Safety
- Safeguarding from abuse
- Food and drink
- Premises and equipment
- Complaints
- Good governance
- Staffing
- Fit and proper staff
- Duty of candour
- Display of ratings.
FAQs
- Who does the CQC regulate?
The CQC only regulates service providers based in England. The type of activities they regulate can be broken down into three categories:
1. Any treatment, care or support that’s provided by hospitals, GPs, dentists, ambulances or mental health services.
2. Any treatment, care or support services that serve adults in both care homes and their own home – this includes personal and nursing care.
3. Any services that support people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act.
Unsure if the CQC applies to you? Here’s a comprehensive list of services the CQC monitors, inspects and regulates: ambulances; care homes; children’s services; clinics; community-based initiatives; dentists; GPs and doctors; hospices; hospitals; mental health services; secure settings; home care agencies; mobile doctors; and over-the-phone services.
- Do you need care-specific policies and procedures?
Having specialist, up-to-date policies and procedures in place is pivotal. First and foremost, they keep you compliant, but they also aid your employee training and management efforts.
We get that producing legal documents can be tricky, and that’s where we come in. Our industry-leading care team have created expert care policy and procedure templates that meet the CQC’s requirements.
Whether you provide domiciliary or residential care, our watertight templates are set-up and ready for you to tailor towards the needs of your service.
- What’s a statement of purpose?
A statement of purpose is a legally required document to be submitted to the CQC, and is needed if your service wishes to introduce any of the activities that the CQC regulates.
Within a statement of purpose, you must include information like: your aims and objectives of introducing the activity; what services you currently provide; what needs your services fill; your contact details; your service’s legal entity; and the locations regulated services are/will be provided.
Remember, this is just a brief overview of the requirements for a statement of purpose. If you need a hand, get in touch with our experts.
- What are the CQC’s key lines of enquiry?
The CQC will ask five staple questions when inspecting health and social care service providers. These are:
1. Are they safe?
2. Are they effective?
3. Are they caring?
4. Are they responsive to people’s needs?
5. Are they well-led?That’s not to say these are the only questions they’ll ask though. Within each of the five overarching questions, lays an additional set of queries that inspectors will delve into.
The key lines of enquiry – commonly known as KLOEs – exist mainly to ensure that consistency is maintained when CQC inspectors look under each of the five key areas.
How we can help
We understand that time restraints can be a real barrier when it comes to keeping CQC compliant, which is why we’re here to take the weight off your shoulders.
We’re true experts when it comes to the health and social care industry, and our experience speaks for itself. We’ve worked alongside Care England for more than 10 years, and have longstanding relationships with more than 20 other care associations.
Expert CQC assistance around the clock
Here at Citation, we really do understand the daily challenges and pressures you face, so we designed our very own online compliance platform – CQC Pro. Why? To help take the stress and struggle out of achieving, maintaining and proving CQC compliance.
Created by industry experts and ex-CQC inspectors, CQC Pro allows you to easily gather, assess, monitor and manage evidence in one, online place – from anywhere in the world, at any time of the day. With CQC Pro by your side, compliance can be made simple.
For more information on how we can start helping you and your business, get in touch with the team today using our Contact Us page.
Get more information
Why choose Citation?
HR Experts you can trust
Our team of of HR experts are all highly qualified, so you can trus you’re always getting trustworthy advice and insights.
Plus, you’ll be covered by our advice guarantee for the duration of your contract.
Experience you can rely on
From care to construction and nurseries to manufacturing, we’ve worked in all sectors, helping futureproof businesses with proactive compliance for over 25 years.
With you anytime, anywhere
Our human resources consultants work up and down the country. Wherever you are, you’re never far from help and there’s always someone who can help.
50,000
Happy Clients Each Year
24/7
Support For Your Business
300,000+
Questions Answered
