Rachel’s round up: Fundamental changes afoot with the CQC

I recently attended a workshop aimed at updating dentists, registered managers and practice managers alike of the upcoming changes to the CQC inspection planned for April 2015.

The first thing to note is that there are no longer 26 outcomes. Many of the outcomes have been consolidated together to make what they are now calling fundamental standards of which there are 13.

• Person centred care
• Dignity & Respect
• Need for consent
• Safe care & treatment
• Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment
• Meeting nutritional & hydration needs
• Premises & equipment
• Receiving & acting on complaints
• Good governance
• Staffing
• Fit & proper persons employed
• Fit & proper person requirements for directors (principles, registered managers)
• Duty of candour
• General practice management

The inspections are also going to be following a different format. Firstly and most importantly, the person inspecting your practice is actually going to be from a dental background as the CQC have appointed 15 new inspectors specifically for dental.

The inspection will also start before they have even set foot through your door as it will be data led, looking at your website, Google reviews especially if you are a private practice, as well as your previous inspection report and local authority reports.

When inside your practice they will focus on Key Lines Of Enquiry (KLOEs), so is your practice
• Safe
• Effective
• Caring
• Responsive
• Well led

They will also be looking for living policies so ensuring that practices don’t just have a policies folder but that policies are acted out as they state and they way to do that is by interviewing each team member to ensure consistency.

For many though these changes will not pose too much of an issue as they have an effective compliance management system however there are others who are very much struggling to get their head around compliance.

Rachel

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