It’s a winter quite unlike any other and you’ve been working tirelessly to provide safe, high-quality care in the face of existing pressures. I’d like to start by sharing a sincere thank you to you and your teams across the country for all that you continue to do.
Sharing good practice
We’ll use this column, throughout the year, to shine a light on some of the fantastic care we’re seeing. Before Christmas, we were delighted to rate Leaf Complex Care Exeter as ‘outstanding’ overall. They provide care and support to people with a learning disability and autistic people who live in their own homes, so they can live as independently as possible. The service was truly exceptional – responsive to people’s needs and led by a committed team who went above and beyond to make sure people and their families received excellent care. I encourage you to read the report – there’s so much to learn on personalised quality of care, it’s wonderful.
Winter pressures: our response
We recently shared an update on how we’re responding to winter pressures.
Within adult social care we’ve listened to what we’ve heard from you, your trade associations and wider stakeholders around concerns that ratings of adult social care services are having an impact on the capacity of beds available for commissioning. As a result, we’re working with Directors of Adult Social Services across England to identify care homes or home care agencies we could inspect to assess whether ‘requires improvement’ ratings can be updated. We’ll also be inspecting services which are registered and active but not rated, if the lack of a rating is a barrier to people accessing those services. Full criteria can be found on our website.
So, how will it work? We’ll be looking at our own intelligence and monitoring outcomes alongside local authority information. The decision to inspect rests with CQC and we’ll be using our existing methodology, both focused and comprehensive. Inspections will be unannounced, although local authorities may be in touch beforehand. Our reporting will be as normal; however, once we’ve given the outcome to you, you’re welcome to let your local authority know so they can start to commission with you.
Our aim is to carry out 300 of these inspections by the end of March 2023. I am delighted to share that we’re currently prioritising over 350. We’ve had many discussions with you on revisiting ‘requires improvement’ ratings – this, I hope you agree, is a good start.
Regulatory Leadership
The Regulatory Leadership team has also been busily planning our ambitions for the year ahead. We shared our early thinking in a recent webinar where we were joined by over 3,000 providers. This month we welcomed our two new Deputy Directors for Adult Social Care, Alison Murray and Amanda Partington-Todd. Below they share their motivations and ambitions.
Alison Murray, a Registered Nurse with an NHS and social care background, said, ‘I actively chose to build my career in adult social care and haven’t regretted that for a minute. I’ve had the privilege of working with and supporting amazing people. I’m particularly keen to promote the role of the nurse in adult social care.
‘I’ve been involved in dementia care for the majority of my adult life. I’m excited about the opportunities our new regulatory powers and assessment frameworks bring to improve the experiences of people who are living with dementia across health and social care.’
Amanda Partington-Todd, a Registered Social Worker who has worked in the social care sector since the age of 16, said, ‘I’m a passionate advocate for adult social care and the difference it makes to people’s lives when we get it right.
‘I’m ambitious that Regulatory Leadership sets the example for collaborative cross-sector working and use our independent voice to highlight best practice, innovation and what it feels like for people to be on the receiving end of truly high-quality, person-centred and co-produced care.’
You’ll hear more from Alison and Amanda in these columns over the coming year. In the meantime, read more about the wider Regulatory Leadership team in our recent blog.