New Information Provided About CQCs’ Six Evidence Categories…
Just in case you haven’t noticed, CQC has recently published further information about the six evidence categories, including how CQC will use them and the types of evidence they will collect to assess the quality and safety of services for specific quality statements.
Find the evidence categories for your service type on the CQC website:
Care homes and supported living services: evidence categories – Care Quality Commission
Homecare and shared lives services: evidence categories – Care Quality Commission.
The Thorny issue of CQC’s new guidance!
CQC appear to believe they have provided effective guidance for providers. They offered to find out what else providers need at their last webinar in October (where provider comments were coming through thick and fast) about the lack of guidance.
I think one of the issues is confused communication. On the provider side, we are well-versed in the KLOEs, the KLOE prompts and the rating characteristics. We use these to understand the CQC methodology and benchmark our services for quality and safety. When CQC promised ‘guidance’, I was certainly expecting something for the new framework that would provide the same opportunity for understanding and implementing the new system.
In themselves, I think the quality statements are good (albeit not really written in plain English). However, there is no added guidance, so they are just descriptors of what ‘good’ looks like and the expectations providers will need to ‘live up’ to. I can see the sense in the reductions to six core questions (the evidence categories), but the categories are very broad, with no underpinning guidance. Linking the specific evidence categories to the individual quality statements is a good start, but again, this only describes the linkages to me; it doesn’t ‘guide’ me in what this means for a service and how services can either prepare or use the new system in their own quality assurance.
So, like many things in life, it seems to come down to miscommunication. No doubt CQC has wanted to be as helpful as possible, but they clearly haven’t realised how many of us have defined their use of the word ‘guidance’, and perhaps haven’t thoroughly checked their messaging against their aims.
Let’s hope some more ‘guidance’ will follow shortly. Still, with the new system going live for some (small numbers) of providers later this month (and for others Dec-Mar), it’s probably time to stop relying on CQC for the guidance we require and look to our skills, knowledge and expertise in what good, high-quality, person-centred care looks like, and how we can relate what we do (our systems and processes), to the new quality statements and evidence categories.
Our Top 5 Preparation Tips…
Here at Duffy & Shaw, we support providers in considering what they can do to prepare. Here are our Top Five Tips:
- Sign up for all of the information from the CQC, including adult social care bulletins, YouTube channel, blogs, relevant webinars, and digital engagement platforms.
- Review the new quality statements regarding your existing quality assurance/audits, systems of work, etc., to identify gaps between what you do currently and what you’ll need to adapt or add to ensure your compliance.
- Use co-production to help you rectify gaps in your current systems and practice. You can find out more about co-production at SCIE.
- Align your current policies and procedures with the new quality statements.
- Communicate with your teams and share information about the new CQC assessment framework, the quality statements, and what the change means for them and the service. Reassure staff that much of what CQC will speak with them about will feel familiar, as it’s still about providing high-quality, safe, and person-centred care.
Prepare for the new inspection framework with a webinar…
Don’t wait until it’s too late! Prepare now to ensure that you provide the best possible care and support and avoid any regulatory issues. Learn more about the new working methods, how to maintain your compliance with CQC, and how to evidence your focus on the individual at the next Duffy & Shaw Webinar CQC Compliance Webinar: Preparing for the new inspection Framework.
We look forward to meeting you.