Blog Post
Sports organisations and CQC registration
In the current era, there is an increasing focus on the role of medical and other healthcare professionals in sport. In a high performance environment where results are critical and margins are everything, significant pressure can be placed on the team doctor to ensure that a player is match fit or an athlete is able to race. The doctor's duties are to the athlete as their patient, not to a coach, manager or performance director. Organisations need to consider the structure that a team doctor sits in and who they are answerable to in terms of line management and ultimate professional accountability. For large organisations, there are obvious benefits in separating out the provision of primary care medical services and medical performance support.
Blog Post
State of Care 2016 – Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)
Written by Hannah Blake, Trainee Solicitor. As part of the release of the CQC's State of Care Report 2015-2016, we have produced a series of articles highlighting the findings and our analyses. Here, Hannah Blake comments on the issues raised in the report about DoLS. In line with a Supreme Court ruling in 2014 'a deprivation of liberty occurs when a person is under continuous or complete supervision and control, is not free to leave, and lacks capacity to consent to these arrangements'. This has meant that hospitals and care homes must apply to local authorities if they wish to deprive someone of their liberty; the process is set out by the DoLS. Whilst it is well established that the DoLS are there to ensure that when deprivation of liberty is required, it occurs in the person's best interests, there are ongoing issues in relation to the understanding and application of the requirements. The role of CQC is to regulate and monitor their use and, unsurprisingly, they have found a direct correlation in relation to homes with a poor understanding of DoLS and a "requires improvement" or "inadequate" rating.
Blog Post
Rising costs for health and care providers
Care providers face a double whammy of increased costs this month, as CQC have confirmed significant rises in their fees at the same time as the National Living Wage coming into force. While both of those measures will hopefully improve the quality of care in the long term, in the short term they present a real financial burden to providers who are already struggling in a difficult market.
Blog Post
Care Home Fees Face Further Scrutiny
On 23 December 2014, judgment was handed down in the judicial review claim initiated by Torbay Quality Care Forum Limited ("TQCF Limited"), a group of care home providers, against Torbay Council ("the
Blog Post
North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust - CQC Inspection
The Care Quality Commission ("CQC") is commencing a further inspection of two hospitals within North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust, which was put under special measures following the 2013 Keogh