The New CQC Registration System
When the CQC took over from CSCI last year it was heralded as the dawn of a new era. CQC would be responsible for the registration of all providers of health and adult social care. All providers would have to comply with the same standards, with the focus being on the ‘outcomes’ for the people using the services and high standards of quality and care.
The re-registration process has now started.
CQC are re-registering all providers of adult social care in tranches and current providers will be allotted four weeks in which to re-register. This is compulsory and there will be no automatic re-registration for anyone. CQC will review applications once they are submitted and may contact providers to talk about their application or ask for additional information before reaching a decision. The aim is that everyone will be re-registered by 1 October 2010.
It will be the ‘activities’ rather than the providers that will be registered: therefore one registration application will cover all the regulated activities carried out by that provider even if that service provider operates from several different locations. Providers must complete their registration application within the allocated time frame given to them. If their application is late CQC can not guarantee that the application will be processed in time. If a decision has not been reached about the registration of a service by 1 October 2010 then it will be a criminal offence if a provider continues to provide regulated activities without being registered.
The legal background behind the new system is the Health and Social Care Act 2008 which will replace the Care Standards Act 2000. Providers will continue to operate under the Care Standards Act until October 2010 when the regulations under the Care Standards Act and national minimum standards will be replaced by new standards and regulations under the Health and Social Care Act and CQC Regulations 2009. The new standards will mainly focus on care, welfare of the people using the services, suitability of staff, safety and safeguarding, quality, management, treatment and support. CQC will no longer assess adult social care providers using the current star rating system from summer 2010 ahead of the new system and standards that will come into force in October under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Providers must be able to demonstrate that they comply with the new standards, future regulated activity that they carry out. Therefore before making the application you should familiarise yourself with the new regulations and with the Care Quality Commissions guidance about compliance this can be found on the CQC website.
For more information, contact Shelley Bonney on 01905 723131