Home care body welcomes CQC’s proposed minimum standards for care providers

The United Kingdom Homecare Association, the professional association for homecare providers, has welcomed a proposal by the Care Quality Commission to set minimum standards for care providers.

The proposals to set ‘Fundamental Standards’ for health and social care providers are set out in the CQC’s consultation ‘A new start’.

Under the plans, health and social care providers will have to meet these standards or face enforcement action.

The fundamental standards will not replace CQC’s current Essential Standards of Quality and Safety, although these will be re-written in the future.

Colin Angel, UKHCA policy and campaigns director, said: “CQC has indicated greater willingness to produce the new standards by talking to providers and their representatives in much greater detail than has happened in the past - a move which we thoroughly endorse.”

The proposals also include plans for a quality rating system to be introduced for NHS hospitals from late 2013 and adult social care providers from 2014.

Mr Angel added: “Adult social care providers have been extremely keen for CQC to introduce a quality ratings system. While many will be disappointed to learn that these ratings are unlikely to be introduced until 2014, UKHCA would rather see workable ratings produced rather than an unsuitable system developed in haste.”

The CQC is inviting people to give their views on its plan which largely focusses on hospital care. Under the plan, each hospital will be given a single rating and there will be a programme for failing hospitals and action when providers fail to meet fundamental standards of care.

Generalist inspectors will no longer exist as CQC moves towards specialist inspection teams, led by a chief inspector of hospitals, social care or general practice.

CQC chief executive, David Behan, said: “This consultation is a critical step towards making root and branch changes to regulation.

“These proposals put CQC firmly on the side of people who use services. We have listened to what people have said is important to them about services and used this to form these proposals, but there is a huge amount of detail to decide on before we can move to the next step.”