All the iCOPS® products listed below help to proactively manage quality, safety and performance, and meet the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) Standards. ICOPS® grades performance to give an indication of a provider’s CQC rating, supporting all health and care providers deliver an outstanding service, whilst reducing the time, cost and effort of managing compliance. ICOPS® changes the focus from regulatory compliance to self-evaluation, putting the provider in control of their service quality, embedding a culture of continuous improvement, whilst simultaneously demonstrating that CQC’s standards have been met. The baseline criteria used within the iCOPS® products are taken directly from CQC’s regulations and supporting guidance, including notes for assessors. The criteria for the fundamental standards have been graded by our professional and experienced consultants to reflect the different CQC rating levels.
Whilst there can be no guarantee that rating an organisation against the iCOPS® criteria will result in CQC awarding the same rating on inspection, it can be assured that following the criteria will align an organisation with CQC’s requirements, as it is taken from their own material. The range of iCOPS® products listed below include the characteristics of each rating level with regards to the fundamental standards, and for each of the key lines of enquiry, specific to each service area. This also helps the provider to assess and evidence their own quality of care against each of the five key questions asked by CQC i.e. Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. This benefits both the provider and CQC by reducing inspection time and cost.
Reports are generated automatically by iCOPS® at the press of a button, based on the data already entered; from these it is clear to see whether improvements and progress are being made, together with specific areas that may need development or risks to be addressed. These reports can be used for many purposes including management and board meetings, and for supporting Provider Information Return required by CQC. Good practice is easily shared with iCOPS® using the unique overlay feature, allowing services or departments to be viewed side by side. This excellent feature supports community building and sharing the ‘good stuff’. This iCOPS® range of products enables providers to assess where they are in line with CQC criteria and respective grading, see what outstanding looks like, and helps plan the necessary actions for getting there. As all the necessary criteria are built into iCOPS®, with a few simple steps a robust and detailed action plan will be produced. It also offers a unique collaboration function to allow for 360° feedback evaluation.
Note: iCOPS® requires a modern browser, e.g. Google Chrome, Safari or Internet Explorer 9 and above.
Introduction The Care Quality Commission’s staged registration across the four tranches of providers was completed on 1 April 2013, when the deadline for GPs practices and other primary medical services providers was reached. For many across the health and social care sector the new compliance regime has been a culture shock. This is especially true for GPs and dental practices. The previous approach of self-regulation made compliance something of a grey area. Perhaps unsurprisingly in this day and age, leaving something as important as service user outcomes to the ‘discretion’ of each practice has proved unworkable. Essential standards of quality and safety need to be upheld and it is impossible to establish and measure the quality of services without the baseline of a universally applied compliance standard.
The main requirement of registration activity is gathering and submitting information to CQC. This means registration is little more than a tick-box exercise that requires the right information in the right place.
First impressions shaped by registration may make CQC inspection seem like a similar piece of routine bureaucracy. However, nothing could be further from the truth. One image of inspection is that a nice inspector from the CQC turns up for a cup of tea and an informal chat to see how things are going. Unfortunately the reality is that you are more likely to be confronted by someone with a clipboard and an MSc in Risk Management!
The regulator has come under increasing pressure to raise its game. High profile cases of cruelty and neglect in adult social care and horror stories such as the scandal at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust fuel public outrage at regulatory failure and raise the political stakes. Consequently, it is reasonable to conclude that CQC’s inspectors now have no purpose in life other than to catch health and social care providers out at inspection time.
In this guide we discuss how QCS compliance management helps ensure that you pass your first inspection as well all the others that come afterwards. Registration versus Inspection -the compliance difference During the tick-box CQC registration process, service providers are required to declare compliance or non-compliance for each regulated activity at every location operated. For the purposes of inspection, the approach for monitoring on-going compliance is different and is not as simple as making a declaration. At inspection, service providers are required to demonstrate compliance across the whole of the service at a location level. The CQC provides a self-assessment tool called the PCA or Provider Compliance Assessment to help with this. It is not necessary to routinely use the PCA; however, healthcare providers may be compelled to complete it and within a specified timeframe. After effects intro templates free download.
In part, the CQC provides the PCA to help address areas of weakness and move regulated activities from a position of non-compliance to compliance where necessary. To achieve this, monitoring compliance using the PCA lets service providers:. Identify those areas where there are varying levels of concerns about non-compliance to certain outcomes. Develop action plans that state what is going to be done about shortfalls in a timely manner and to ensure that people who use services experience the essential standards of quality and safety The burden of proof Unlike the criminal justice system where the burden of proof lies with the prosecution, CQC compliance is something of a reversal. The burden of proof is not with CQC, to show a lack of compliance, but rests squarely on the service provider to show it behaves compliantly.
Consequently, whether the PCA is used or not, inspection places the onus on the service provider to produce evidence which shows it follows compliant practice. For every aspect of operations there is a need for accurately maintained records which reliably report on compliance matters. While not quite equating to ‘guilty until proven innocent’, it is for service providers to show they are ‘innocent’ of compliance failure.
Data triangulation On the face of it, inspection appears to be about proving compliance by providing an audit trail which documents operational procedures and maintaining a CQC evidence repository. However, it is a false assumption to believe that presenting a flawless set of records, reports and a PCA ensures an inspection pass. To arrive at a robust judgement, the inspection process requires CQC inspectors and assessors to cross-reference or ‘triangulate’ data with information from several other sources where possible.
Other methods for gathering information include talking to people who use services, using surveys or making direct observations of care during a visit. If the evidence on paper is not supported by triangulated data, this will not go unnoticed and the inspection process will almost certainly try to uncover the reason for the inconsistency.
The QCS framework for achieving compliance The QCS compliance management system is a comprehensive library of compliance policies and procedures. The documentation within the management system enables all health and social care to adhere to processes that have compliance interwoven. In effect it is a ‘compliance blueprint’ enabling every activity which is governed by CQC compliance to be managed so that service providers achieve the required regulatory standard.
Embed 4 Nations Thematic Activity Conference CQC - 11 November 2011.
CQCAssure delivers much more than just software, giving access to a range of benefits including:. Allocate domain expertise. Shared best practice learnings from a customer community. Exclusive briefings. CQC information documents Continuously updated online, the application replaces systems that were acceptable before real-time compliance came into force. CQCAssure is also fully content-managed, so you can avoid major concerns and automatically keep up with regulatory compliance, changing regulatory procedures, updates and CQC developments.
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MPS clinical risk manager Diane Baylis shares risk advice for practices in how to prepare for a CQC inspection All general practices and primary medical services in England should have already registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Practices are required to indicate to the CQC whether they are compliant or not with the 16 essential standards; inspection is the next stage in this process. MPS Education runs (CRSAs) in hundreds of practices every year.
Through these CRSAs we are aware that there is anxiety about the forthcoming CQC inspections. Although to our knowledge no inspections have yet taken place, inspections are due to commence summer 2013. Following discussions with the CQC, combined with MPS’s experience of inspections of dental practices, we are able to share practical tips to help prepare for the forthcoming inspections. The CQC will undertake three types of inspection of general practices – these will be aimed at ensuring the practice is compliant with the Essential Standards of Quality and Safety. Scheduled – standard routine inspection. Themed – where the inspector will focus on a specific area of concern.
Responsive – where the visit is triggered by particular concerns about the quality or safety of a service. The CQC inspector will need to speak to the registered manager or nominated individual. If they are not available, the inspector will speak to a partner or the practice manager.
MPS understands that the inspector will focus on five of the essential standards. In a sheduled or themed inspection, practices will be given 48 hours’ notice and the CQC will inform them which essential standards they will be reviewing.
What happens next? Any actions required by the CQC as a result of the inspection will be issued to you in the form of a compliance action or enforcement action. A compliance action will be issued where breaches of a regulation have a minor impact on people.
The registered person will be required to submit a report showing your action plan in order to meet the regulations. The CQC may follow up on this with either a telephone call or a visit to check that the requested improvements have been made. Encourage patients to complete the “please tell us your experience” on your profile page on the CQC website. Ensure your staff understand the role of the CQC and what may happen during an inspection visit. Include CQC on the agenda of your regular staff meetings. You may want to put up a notice in your waiting room on the day of the visit so your patients are aware what is happening.
Download Software Quiz Cqc Inspections
Ensure that members of your patient participation group (PPG) are aware of the CQC inspection and plan how you would contact them if they are needed on the day of the inspection. Undertake pathway tracking of a patient and look at:. Availability of appointments and how the telephone is answered. Confidentiality.
How your staff communicate with patients. Information available for patients. Health and safety – availability of emergency equipment. Infection control – cleanliness. The use of chaperones.
How patients are involved in their care. Consent.
Records management. Get feedback from the inspector at the end of the visit. Ensure that you are able to demonstrate:. How your protocols have been implemented.
How you involve patients in their care. How you gather patient feedback, eg, patient surveys, and how you act on this feedback in order to assess and monitor the quality of your care. Ensure that your staff have received training that is appropriate for their role and that you have records of training in particular:. Safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
Mandatory training CPR etc. Get feedback from the inspector at the end of the visit and make sure you ask any questions to make sure you know what happens next. You will usually receive the report in ten working days. You will then have ten working days to check that the report is factually accurate and send any comments back to the CQC. © 2017 The Medical Protection Society Limited.
The Medical Protection Society Limited (MPS) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England with company number 36142 at Level 19, The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9SG. MPS is not an insurance company. All the benefits of membership of MPS are discretionary as set out in the. MPS® and Medical Protection® are registered trademarks.