Health and social care and the role of prosecution in raising standards
Care providers and healthcare organisations have a moral and legal duty of care to those that use their services and it is the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which is responsible for regularly inspecting providers to ensure that these duties are fulfilled. Underscoring these inspections is the fundamental standards of care which have been established and ratified to determine how safe, caring, effective, responsive, and well-led each care and service provider is.
This process of checks and balances has historically received little challenge however, following the appointment of Ian Trenholm as CQC’s Chief Executive in July last year, the health and social care industry was on notice. In November, in an effort to address key areas of concern, Mr Trenholm announced plans to bring forward more prosecutions of health and social care providers for breaches of these fundamental standards. The importance of the rules and regulations is evident in an industry that is designed to support and protect vulnerable people. However, this tougher approach is one that echoes the ‘action and consequences’ expected of Trenholm given his background as a police officer.
When the push for increased prosecutions was first revealed in November 2018, the CQC was actively considering more than 31 prosecutions of NHS organisations. Mr Trenholm said that the CQC would not compromise on safety and that this is not part of a new approach for the CQC saying:
“Our purpose has always been to ensure services are safe and high quality and it has always been our desire to understand why problems have occurred in order to learn from them so that we can provide information to others.”
However, with 163 possible prosecutions against adult social care providers already in the pipeline, and those against the NHS being investigated, Mr Trenholm appears eager to increase the CQC’s enforcement strategies. Additionally, it was also reported that the CQC had employed a number of ex-military and ex-police officers to review the evidence being gathered, in an effort to both increase the number and likelihood of success in delivering more prosecutions.
There is no question that ensuring health and social care providers deliver high-quality and safe services is important however, the validity of prosecution in raising standards across the industry calls for greater investigation. Notwithstanding punishment for those who have breached the fundamental standards, Dawn Jotham, EduCare’s pastoral care specialist, argues that the key to improving standards is through effective training:
“Training is key to delivering care that not only meets the standards set out by the CQC but also empowers providers to go above and beyond in delivering the best and kindest care possible.”
Further, providing demonstrable training to health and social care providers also has the potential to be valuable in the face of greater prosecution – this can be the difference between an ‘outstanding’ or ‘inadequate’ rating by the CQC. Being adequately prepared for CQC inspections should also entail the provision of regular, personalised training courses; a comprehensive induction training programme that addresses promoting people’s rights, choice, dignity, and independence; and addressing the five key focus areas: safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness, and being well-led.
Undertaking relevant and up-to-date training courses not only positions providers as being committed to best-practice safeguarding and
What’s more, in light of Mr Trenholm’s increasing efforts to prosecute providers, ongoing CPD and training
How EduCare can help
Our comprehensive training package, EduCare for Health & Social Care combines over 30 essential safeguarding and duty of care courses with a robust reporting suite to monitor staff training and provide that all important evidence to inspectors. The package contains courses that map to all 15 standard of the Care Certificate such as Duty of Care, Person-Centred Care Approaches, Infection Control and Information Governance & Data Protection as well as other courses that relate to mandatory training needs such as FGM awareness and, in readiness for the anticipated reporting duty, a new course on Forced Marriage and Honour-Based Abuse.
The entire package will instil confidence in your staff and give the whole organisation peace of mind that both staff and service users are protected.
At a price that is right, too.
Challenge us today and see how much you could save!
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