A weekly update for providers and professionals working in adult social care, sharing the latest guidance on COVID-19 and CQC's approach during this period.
The Emergency Support Framework (ESF) has been developed to provide a structured framework for the regular conversations that inspectors are having with providers, and is part of our regulatory approach during the coronavirus pandemic.
The framework will be rolled out across all sectors, but is initially being used with adult social care providers.
We are also keen to hear about your experiences of the ESF, and would welcome any feedback via our online participation platform. You'll need to be signed in to take part, and if you're not already a member you can sign up here.
We recently wrote to all registered adult social care providers setting out our approach to data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand its impact on the people you care for, your workforce, and your ability to deliver services.
Thank you for your support so far. We've had a great response rate to the 'Updating CQC on the impact of COVID-19' online form, with 57% of providers completing the form each day and over 70% completing it at least once. However, to ensure this data is as valuable as possible, we need all providers to complete the update.
We are aware of a fault which caused a delay in issuing the daily reminder emails to homecare providers, resulting in some emails being received late in the evening. This was a global Microsoft issue and is now resolved, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. Homecare providers should now receive their email by 10.30am each day. The reminder emails include a link which is unique to your location ID – you can bookmark this so that you don't have to wait for the reminder and can complete the tracker at a time that suits you.
Please contact us if you have any queries or concerns.
A new dedicated app for the adult social care workforce in England has been launched to support staff on-the-go through the coronavirus pandemic. The Care Workforce app, developed with NHSX and NHS Business Services Authority will be introduced under the new CARE brand and will act as a single digital hub for social care workers to access relevant updates, guidance, support and discounts from their phone.
The app is available for download from on Apple and Android supported smartphones, or can be accessed by browsers on any device. Download the app now or search 'Care Workforce' on Google Play or the App Store.
NHSX and CQC have been working together to identify and disseminate priority food offers for social care staff. We are pleased to be highlighting a number of offers at retailers including Iceland, Morrisons, and Food to care.
We are contacting registered managers individually with more details about the offer from Iceland, and more details are available here.
Guidance has been published that clarifies existing practice for verifying deaths outside of hospitals and providing a framework for safe verification of death during the coronavirus emergency.
At the request of the Department of Health and Social Care, we have, since 9 April, been providing administrative support to enable testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) in the adult social care sector.
Initially we provided a mechanism to enable providers to refer their staff for testing at a number of drive-through locations nationwide, prior to the launch of a national portal to enable employees and staff to organise this directly. We have also supported a pilot to enable care homes to order testing kits for their residents.
Although the facilitation of testing is outside of our statutory functions, we took the decision to support this vital work on an interim basis in recognition of the value we could add due to our relationships with registered adult social care providers. The Department of Health and Social Care provides the clinical framework for safe testing of residents; eligibility for tests; and the plans for rollout across the whole adult social care sector. Visit our website for more information.
We have published new guidance for providers on:
Visit our website for the latest information on any changes to the way we work during the COVID-19 outbreak, including answers to frequently asked questions from adult social care providers.
It is more vital than ever that we hear people’s experiences of care during the C OVID -19 emergency , and we have seen a significant drop in people using our G ive f eedback o n c ar e service.
From June, we’ll be launching a public campaign as part of our E mergency S upport F ramework to encourage people to feedback on care, worki ng with H ealthwat ch , E xperts by Experience, people who use services and voluntary and community organisations.
We want to encourage people who use services and those working in health and care to report poor care to give us t heir insight into what people are actually experiencing during this time. We want to hear about good care too so we can celebrate it and share good practice.
In Mid-May we will be testing some small-scale digital advertising to encourage people to feed back.
Ahead of the campaign starting, please encourage people working in and using your care to share their feedback. We want to hear about all types of experience – whether they’re to do with coronavirus or not.
The National Falls Prevention Coordination Group, in partnership with members including the National Care Forum and the Registered Nursing Home Association, has developed a poster which contains advice for care homes about what to do in the event of a fall during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Skills for Care have a number resources available to support registered and frontline managers who are managing CQC regulated adult social care services.
An advice line is available to help managers access the latest information, resources, funding, online learning and other opportunities provided by Skills for Care and can also signpost to the latest guidance and advice produced by other agencies. The advice line is open from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday on 0113 241 1260.
Other support options include a series of 30-minute webinars on a range of topics, with new webinars being developed as issues and priorities emerge during the crisis, a Facebook group for registered managers, and peer-led local networks for registered managers which continue to meet virtually.
If you are contacted by someone claiming to be a CQC inspector who tries gain access to services or information please:
Keep up with our work with professionals and provider organisations in England by following us on Twitter @CQCProf.
We are England's independent health and adult social care regulator.