Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessments for adult social services will still go ahead in April, despite there being no clear roadmap of how it will work.
Council leaders have urged the Department of Health and Social Care to delay the assessment so that they can deal with more pressing issues, such as staffing shortages, unprecedented waiting lists and postponed hospital discharges.
However, it appears the CQC checks will still take place as scheduled.
What are the CQC assessments?
CQC assessments were initially introduced to report on reviews of councils’ performance of their Care Act 2014 duties.
The DHSC are also allowed to intervene and suggest improvements at the authorities where appropriate.
The legislation was abolished in 2010 with the agreement that it would be replaced with a “more proportionate and constructive system”.
In short, after 13 years, it’s back to “provide a greater understanding of practice and provision at local level.”
Last year, a pilot assessment was conducted in Hampshire and Manchester to test if the new approach was effective. Authorities were assessed on the following areas: working with people, providing support, ensuring safety and leadership and workforce.
A DHSC spokesperson said: “These assessments will enable people to hold their local authority to account and, ultimately, give them access to the consistent, high-quality care and support they deserve.
“We are finalising the local authority assessment framework which we expect to roll out from April 2023 and will announce further details in due course, including information on the methodology.”
Register here for Community Care’s Festival of Learning taking place on 28 February, to find out more about these assessments and what the criteria will be.
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