CQC Quality Statements were introduced in 2023, by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as part of a major update to its inspection framework. The Quality Statements replace the Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs). These quality statements play a crucial role in assessing and safeguarding the quality of care provided by health and social care services across the UK.
The CQC quality statements have been designed to address the core aspects of care delivery, incorporating a wide range of services and settings. These statements are crucial elements in the CQC inspection framework, serving as standards which providers are evaluated against. They also align with the CQC’s commitment to promoting transparency, accountability and continuous improvement within the health and social care sector.
We at The Access Group have been helping care services become more compliant for over 30 years. In this article, you’ll learn more about the various domains the CQC 34 quality statements cover, how they reflect the comprehensive nature of the assessment process and the structure, content and examples of these quality statements. By the end of this, we hope that you will understand their significance.
The CQC Key Lines of Enquiry are used by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), who regulate all health and social care providers in England. CQC inspectors use the Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE) to guide and direct their inspections of care services. Established and new care providers alike will probably know something about the Key Lines of Enquiry, but few too many understand how the Key Lines of Enquiry fit within the CQC's approach and how they are used during inspections.
Whistleblowing in health and social care shares some common features with whistleblowing in other sectors. Generally speaking a whistleblower is a worker who reports a certain type of wrongdoing that they witness in the workplace. This could be anything from negligence, corruption or another form of malpractice that could put people within the business, whether they’re care providers or service users, at risk.
Whistleblowing is most commonly seen at work, but can also be carried out by concerned members of the public, customers or people using a service, and occurs across a wide range of different industries and sectors.
Whistleblowing in health and social care is extremely important but is still sometimes overlooked by leaders within the sector. Considering that it could protect people and prevent harm, it’s an essential practice to make provision for, that if necessary should be allowed to occur within all kinds of health and social care settings. Having policies and procedures in place is the first step to encouraging your team to blow the whistle when necessary. It is essential that your team know about them and how to make a disclosure.
If you’re still unsure about whistleblowing and why it is so important, we at Access are here to help. To learn more about whistleblowing in health and social care, this article has gone into detail to explain this occurrence, how it can benefit everyone involved and your rights as a whistleblower.
The home care business is profitable for some, while others struggle to survive. For the past five years, the UK home care sector has been consistently growing by 2.4% per year, outpacing the growth of the economy overall. However rising costs and underfunding pose a persistent challenge.
The growth of the home care sector is driven by demand arising from long-term demographic trends. The number of people in the UK who are over 65 years old is 11 million and rising and it is estimated that by 2030 the number of people with dementia in the UK will exceed 1 million.
Additionally, the NHS is overburdened and the government realises that lack of social care capacity is a key driver of delayed discharges.
By reading this article you will have a better understanding of home care business profits and you will also learn some proven strategies to increase home care agency profit margins.
The 6C’s of care are designed inform the culture and practice of health and social care providers. They comprise of 6 care values for employees, leaders, and organisations working in health and social care. The 6C’s place the interests of patients and service users first and foremost.
In this article we will explore the 6C’s of care, why these care values are important, and how following the 6C’s can shape your policies and procedures to help you to become and remain a high-quality care provider.
How to choose the right software for domiciliary care? If you’re looking for software for your home care service then I’m sure you’re asking this very question right now. Understandably too. There are so many different options, and not much information available in terms of what you should be looking for when comparing different domiciliary care software.
In this article we will cover the key areas you should be looking for when choosing domiciliary care software.
If you are a residential care provider then you should read this article on How To Choose the Right Software for a Care Home instead.
This article covers the six most crucial points you need to consider when choosing software for your home care service/s.
Once you've read it and taken all the points on board, you will be able to make a more informed decision on the right domiciliary care software for you. You will have greater confidence that you're making the best choice, and maximise your Return On Investment.
Do you want to know how to grow your home care business? When it comes to achieving scalable business growth, there is no magic bullet that works. What does work is drawing up a well-thought-out strategy and executing it one step at a time.
At Access we work with thousands of successful home care businesses who have achieved steady and consistent growth over the years.
In this article we will share the most effective strategies we know to help you grow your home care business.
Empowerment in health and social care can be key to the success and happiness of your service users. In life, there are things we can’t control. These situations can make you feel frustrated, powerless and disheartened. Over time, this can chip away at your confidence and self-esteem, leading to negativity and poor decision-making.
We can make decisions and plans because we have personal power and are in control of our own lives, so what about the people you care for?
Socially isolated people, those with poor or declining health or less autonomy can become fearful of positive risk-taking. The frustrations of not being able to do the things they once loved or simple daily tasks can lead to a loss of independence, assurance and self-empowerment. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help promote empowerment and reduce the risk of these feelings developing in your care service.
To gain a deep understanding of empowerment in health and social care you should download this FREE guide: ‘E is for Empowerment & Engagement’. It takes an in-depth look into both subjects and how they work together to improve the quality of care. These guides are a great resource for care workers, managers and leaders in care and are completely free for you to download.
As you can see, we at The Access Group have digitised and worked with care services across the world for a long time, in fact, we started this journey in health and social care 30 years ago. Over time, we've learned exactly what you need to succeed in care. So, we have put this article together to help you fully understand the importance of empowerment in health and social care, what it is, the factors that can affect it and useful empowerment strategies.
In social care, effective communication goes beyond knowledge and expertise to incorporate every aspect of interaction and experience. Care workers need to have the ability to empathise when needed and talk about potentially complicated procedures and issues calmly. Confrontation or disagreements can happen, and the need to defuse these challenging situations is perhaps the most important use of strong communications skills in care.
We previously published an article talking about the importance of staff training in health and social care, but perhaps a more important discussion was had in an article about empowerment in health and social care. Written by my colleague Neoma Toersen, her article discusses the risks inherent from clients losing autonomy and feeling like they no longer have control. This is where effective communication comes in, and can help develop a rapport, build a connection, and allow proper discussion about the wants, wishes and needs of the person receiving care.
In this article we will assess communication in health and social care, with a particular focus on barriers of communication in health and social care and how we can overcome them – with special mention of our eLearning for care software. Our hope is that by reading this article you will have a better understanding of how to navigate not only the base level of conversation with patients or clients, but also the channels of communication and how to best go about engaging with people to make connections, gain insights, and ultimately improve their care.
What is communication in health and social care?
Problems with public sector tendering can be difficult to manage. Digitally transforming processes and investing in brokerage and commissioning software is a good way to overcome these problems, but it can be challenging to know what software is best for your local authority.
If you are a Director, Care Commissioner, Social Worker, or work within the care commissioning cycle in the UK then you will already know the social care challenges have been exacerbated by the pandemic, cost-of-living crisis, and staff shortages. This has made it very difficult for some local authorities to meet demand and commission the care and support needed.
It is not just social care needs that have risen dramatically, local authorities have also seen that housing needs have increased too. With many individuals seeking social or temporary housing, the long waiting lists leave vulnerable people living in unsafe conditions, worsening their health and wellbeing, and increasing their reliance on more health and social care support.
So how are local authorities overcoming these issues? What options are available and what is the difference between brokerage and commissioning software?
Access Adam Care Commissioning is dedicated to empowering local authorities across the UK to optimise their service delivery. Recognizing the increased new responsibilities of our English colleagues, we are committed to ensuring their readiness for the new CQC inspections. In adhering to all applicable legislation and guidance, we facilitate the seamless adaptation of support services to meet evolving demands.
By the end of this article, you will be able to identify the differences between commissioning and brokerage software and the best way these tools can be used to identify which solution is best for your local authority.
