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CQC publishes data showing Covid-19 death notifications

The Care Quality Commission has praised the efforts of care staff during the pandemic as it published data showing death notifications involving Covid-19 received from individual care homes over the past 12 months.

CQC publishes data showing Covid-19 death notificationsThe CQC’s latest Insight Report has also drawn on this data to establish key points and provides crucial context to help understand what the data means.

The data, featuring notifications received between 10th April 2020 and 31st March 2021 from care homes across all regions, shows that Covid-19 has contributed to a significant increase in the number of deaths in nursing and residential care settings.

Death notifications do not equal poor care

England’s care watchdog was quick to point out, however, that death notifications “do not in themselves indicate poor quality care.”

Covid-19 death notifications from individual care homes are reviewedIn fact, in a press release accompanying the publication of the data, they emphasised that, across all types of care settings, “staff have gone to great lengths to try to contain the effects of this virus, as our report published today on infection prevention and control in hospitals shows.”

They explained that many factors, including the rate of transmission in the local community, the size of the care home and the age, health and care needs of residents can all potentially influence the number of deaths.

Many of the notifications also relate to the deaths of care home residents which occurred when they were receiving care in other settings, meaning the death notification does not necessarily indicate that Covid-19 was present in the care home.

Data used in inspection decisions

The figures have been presented alongside government data on all Covid-19 deaths. This is because care homes form part of the local community and so are impacted when Covid-19 is prevalent in the area.

Data on Covid-19 death notifications is available onlineDeaths are counted as involving Covid-19 based on the statement made by the care home provider. This may or may not correspond to an official medical diagnosis or test result and may or may not be reflected on the death certificate.

The CQC has used information from individual care homes about deaths involving Covid-19 alongside other information to make decisions about where to inspect.

The watchdog conducted 5,577 inspections of residential adult social care providers during the period the data covers. These included wider ongoing monitoring of adult social care services and specific infection prevention control inspections, which focused on eight key criteria to ensure services had an effective approach.

These inspections looked at whether staff had been properly trained to deal with outbreaks and whether there was adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) available for both staff and residents.

While enforcement action had to be taken in a small number of cases, CQC inspectors found “generally high levels of assurance.”

A duty to be transparent

Commenting on the publication of the data on death notifications, the Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care at the CQC, Kate Terroni, explained:

“In considering this data it is important to remember that every number represents a life lost – and families, friends and those who cared for them who are having to face the sadness and consequences of their death.

“We are grateful for the time that families who lost their loved ones during the pandemic have spent meeting with us and the personal experiences they have shared. These discussions have helped us shape our thinking around the highly sensitive issue of publishing information on the numbers of death notifications involving Covid-19 received from individual care homes.”

She said that, as an independent regulator, the CQC has “a duty to be transparent and to act in the public interest” and that this has dictated their decision to publish the data.

“In doing so, we aim to provide a more comprehensive picture of the impact of Covid-19 on care homes, the people living in them and their families,” she added.

“It is important to be clear, however, that although this data relates to deaths of people who were care home residents, many of them did not die in or contract Covid-19 in a care home.”

“As we publish this data, we ask for consideration and respect to be shown to people living in care homes, to families who have been affected, and to the staff who have done everything they could, in incredibly difficult circumstances, to look after those in their care.”

The data can be viewed on an online dashboard.

Further support and training for care settings

First Response Training (FRT) is a leading, national training provider. They deliver over 7,000 courses each year in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, food hygiene, mental health, health and social care and more.

Their health and social care range includes Infection Control and Prevention, Handling and Recording Information, Dignity in Care, Duty of Care, Safeguarding Adults and many more.

They can also provide an e-learning course in COVID-19 Infection prevention, identification and control.

As a Skills for Care Endorsed Provider, FRT have also recently been awarded grant funding to provide free Covid-19 Essential Training for adult social care workers, including Rapid Induction training for new starters.

A trainer from FRT says: “The adult social care workforce is full of dedicated, compassionate workers who do their best for the people they support each and every day.

“The past year has been incredibly challenging across the sector, and it’s important to understand the full impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on adult social care services and the people receiving care and support from them, while remembering the wider context and local community picture.”

For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.

CQC focuses on learning disability care during the pandemic

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has released its latest insight report, which focuses on care provided for people with a learning disability during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ahead of the publication of their provider collaboration review (PCR) on people with a learning disability living in the community this month (July 2021), England’s care watchdog has looked at how services have worked together to meet people’s needs over the past year.

It follows concerns previously highlighted by the CQC about the care and treatment of people with a learning disability and people with autism. A swing can help a sensory seeking child to self-regulate.

The regulator says that the pandemic has “served to shine a light on some of these pre-existing challenges, gaps and poor-quality care.”

The right care at the right time

Introducing their latest insight report, the CQC explains:

“Support and services for people with a learning disability are often not good enough. For too long, people and their families have face significant and ongoing challenges in getting care at the right time that meets their individual needs.

“We have seen how this can lead to people staying for long periods in appropriate environments, being cared for by people who do not know them and who do not have the skills or knowledge to support them well.”

As part of their forthcoming PCR, the CQC have examined these issues and the impact they have had on people who use services, providers and stakeholders.

The 11th insight report from the watchdog outlines some key approaches to care delivery which can help ensure people receive the care and support they need, which enables them to lead fulfilling lives. These include:

  • Ensuring people are given choice, control and independence. This can include supporting them to live independently or to be cared for in the community close to their friends, family or support networks and ensuring they are not left isolated in hospital settings far from home.
  • Providing access to the right care and support at the right time. This includes providing access to suitable health care and support services, including in emergency and crisis situations.
  • Ensuring collaboration between services and with the person receiving care and their families. This includes sharing information when appropriate about the person, such as their likes, dislikes, interests and preferences, as well as information about their health and wellbeing.

Concerns remain

The CQC remains concerned about the lack of joint working and collaboration between services and how well they have shared information to ensure people receive the right care at the right time.

Particular issues have also been noted with transitioning people from children to adult services and the fact that people can often end up in inappropriate settings when things go wrong.

During the pandemic, people with a learning disability – who already have an increased risk of respiratory illnesses – have also been more vulnerable to Covid-19.

There has been an increase in deaths among people using services who have a learning disability.

While examining the problems faced accessing appropriate care and treatment for people with a learning disability during the Covid-19 pandemic, the CQC is also seeking to highlight examples of good practice where joint working has made a positive difference and improved outcomes for people.

Improving regulation of learning disability care

The insight report presents three areas of focus to improve the CQC’s regulation of services for people with a learning disability and people with autism:

  • Registering the right services – enabling people to use services that will support them with where and how they want to live.
  • Supporting providers to improve – ensuring that people are not moved in to services that are not safe or do not meet their needs.
  • Influencing the improvement of care pathways and ensuring that people are receiving the right care at the right time – accessing local services that meet people’s needs and ensuring they get the right healthcare when needed.

Training and support

First Response Training (FRT) is a leading, national training provider. They deliver over 7,000 courses each year in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, food hygiene, mental health, health and social care and more.

Their health and social care range includes Learning Disability Awareness, Introduction to the Autistic Spectrum, Person Centred Care, Dignity in Care, Duty of Care, Safeguarding Adults and many more.

A trainer from FRT says: “The adult social care workforce is full of dedicated, compassionate workers who do their best for the people they support each and every day.

“However, the system is under significant pressure and it is very important that lessons are learned and improvements made to ensure that all individuals receive the person-centred, compassionate and dignified care that they deserve.”

For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.

Children with SEND disproportionately affected by pandemic

A new report from Ofsted has revealed that children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Children with SEND disproportionately affected during covidThe report contains the findings of joint visits made to local areas by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) during the autumn term of 2020 and the spring term of 2021.

It states that long-standing issues and weaknesses in the system of care for children and young people with SEND have been exacerbated by the disruption of the pandemic.

Children and families ‘out of sight’

It says that children and families have suffered as a result of missed or narrowed education, the withdrawal of essential services such as physiotherapy or speech and language support, and long waiting times for assessment and treatment.

Ofsted inspectors reported that, by Spring 2021, families were often exhausted and despairing when they were still unable to access essential services for their children.

The pandemic and resulting national lockdowns have placed children with SEND ‘out of sight’ of services and led to a worsening situation within the SEND system.

The report cites:

  • Weaknesses in universal education, health and care services which have resulted in children and young people not learning essential skills and knowledge and then mistakenly being identified as having SEND
  • Significant inconsistencies in how SEND are identified
  • A lack of joined-up commissioning and joint working across education, health and care services
  • A lack of clarity between organisations about who is responsible and accountable within local area SEND systems

Experiences for children with SEND vary

Children with SEND out of sight of services during pandemicOfsted found that the experiences of children and families were partly determined by the quality of their relationships with practitioners, as well as the strength of partnership working in their local area.

They were also impacted by the extent to which the local area had implemented the government’s 2014 SEND reforms.

The report states that it is vital that all education settings are ambitious for every child and young person with SEND and that all individuals receive a good quality curriculum and teaching. This was particularly highlighted in relation to the teaching of language and early reading skills.

Improvements for the SEND system

The report contains several recommendations for improvement within the SEND system. These include:

  • More accessible universal services for children and their families, delivered by practitioners with a strong understanding of how to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND
  • More accurate identification when children need targeted or specialist support and higher aspirations for children and young people with SEND
  • A greater sense of joint responsibility between partners in a local area, clearer accountability for different organisations within local systems, and greater coordination of universal, target and specialist local services so children get the right support at the right time

Ofsted have been working with the CQC to develop a new inspection framework which is aimed at driving further improvements in the SEND system and better supporting children and young people at what is described as a “critical moment.”

HM Chief Inspector of Schools, Amanda Spielman, commented on the report’s findings:

“Many local area leaders and practitioners have gone above and beyond to support children and young people with SEND and their families during this challenging time.

“However, our report shows that children and young people were not always getting the education and care they needed, even before the pandemic.

“As the damaging effects of the pandemic on children and young people with SEND become clear, so too does the need to ensure that we are all playing our role in supporting them. We will work closely with CQC to develop a new framework to support improvement in the way education, health and care services work together to get the best possible outcomes for children.”

Improve awareness and support

First Response Training (FRT) is a leading national training provider delivering courses in subjects such as health and safety, first aid, fire safety, manual handling, food hygiene, mental health, health and social care, safeguarding and more.

They work with a large number of early years and childcare providers, as well as schools, colleges, and children’s services.

They can provide training in SEND Awareness, Dyslexia Awareness, ADHD Awareness, Introduction to the Autistic Spectrum and Learning Disability Awareness among other special focus subjects.

For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.

CQC publishes Covid-19 inpatient survey

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published the results of it’s coronavirus (Covid-19) inpatient survey.

The key findings reveal that the majority of people were positive about their experience of hospital care during the first wave of the pandemic, but that those who were diagnosed with coronavirus did have poorer experiences than those who did not have the virus.

The survey included the views of more than 10,000 adults who were discharged from hospital during April and May 2020.

It found that those who received care and treatment for coronavirus had worse experiences in relation to:

  • Discharge from hospital
  • Knowing what would happen next with their care

The CQC also found that people with dementia or those living with a mental health conditions found some aspects of their stay in hospital more difficult.

The care watchdog surveyed to gather feedback that would help health services and local systems plan and make improvements for the delivery of future coronavirus care and treatment, especially in facilities like the urgent care Bethpage. The survey included patients admitted with either confirmed or suspected coronavirus, as well as those admitted for unrelated reasons.

Survey respondents were asked about the quality of information they received and their interactions with staff, how well they were able to communicate with family and friends, the cleanliness of the hospital, and their discharge arrangements.

The CQC noticed some key trends:

  • Feeling safe: Overall, 83% of patients said they felt safe from the risk of catching coronavirus in hospital. Those who were diagnosed in hospital felt least safe (68%), however, compared with those who did not receive a coronavirus diagnosis (84%).
  • Confidence in staff: 83% of patients said they ‘always’ had confidence and trust in the staff treating them. Over three quarters (77%) said they were involved ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount’ in decisions made about their treatment and 7 in 10 people felt they ‘always’ received enough emotional support from staff.
  • Overall experiences: Patients who were diagnosed with coronavirus reported poorer experiences overall, and particularly in relation to discharge and accessing support following that.
  • Leaving hospital: Just under a third of people with coronavirus (32%) said they didn’t know what would happen next with their care when leaving hospital, and 29% believed that help from health and social care services after leaving hospital would have been ‘useful’, but they did not receive any.
  • Cleanliness: Most people (80%) reported that their room or ward was ‘very clean’ and the majority also recalled seeing a range of infection control measures, such as staff wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), handwashing and cleaning of surfaces. Fewer people reported seeing social distancing measures in place, such as markers on the floors or relevant signage.
  • Contact with family and friends: Three quarters of people surveyed said they were ‘often’ able to keep in touch with loved ones during the pandemic, but 13% said they didn’t get the help they needed to do so. Patients with a sensory impairment, learning disability or a mental health or neurological condition, or older patients, were less likely to feel that they’d been able to maintain regular contact with family or friends.
  • Communication with staff: Some patients found communicating with staff who were wearing PPE particularly difficult. People aged 85 or over, or patients with autism, dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, patients who were deaf or hard of hearing and those with learning disabilities were most likely to struggle to understand what they were being told.

The CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Ted Baker, said: “The positive experience reported by many people surveyed reflects the tremendous efforts of hospital staff at a time of unprecedented pressure.

“As winter approaches and the ongoing challenge of coronavirus remains, it is crucial that we use the results to identify any action that can be taken to help maintain safety, drive improvements in care and tackle inequalities going forward.

“Disappointingly, the results show that for some people the process of leaving hospital and accessing support after was not good enough, particularly for those in hospital with coronavirus. This mirrors the findings of a recent report by Healthwatch England and The British Red Cross.

“Previous CQC inpatient surveys have repeatedly shown discharge and access to onward services as an area where greater improvement is needed. The increased pressures that responding to the pandemic has placed on health and social care has brought the issue into sharp focus.

“More needs to be done to ensure people are fully supported when leaving hospital and when they return home with a clear join-up between hospital, community and primary care. This can only be achieved if all parts of the health and care system come together and local leaders support services to work collaboratively to build capacity to respond to the needs of their area.”

A summary of the survey results can be found on the CQC’s website.

First Response Training (FRT) is a leading, national training provider. They deliver over 7,000 courses each year in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, food hygiene, mental health, health and social care and more.

Their health and social care range includes Infection Control, Health and Safety, Personal Care, Safeguarding Adults, Dementia Awareness, Duty of Care, Dignity in Care and many more.

A trainer from FRT says: “With coronavirus likely to remain a feature of the health and care landscape for a little while yet, it’s good that the CQC has obtained these insights that can help services plan, adjust and deliver high quality care.”

For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.

Care home fined £100K for failure to provide safe care

A care provider has been fined £100,000 for their “serious failure” to provide safe care in what the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has described as a “very distressing case.”

Sunrise Operations Esher Limited, which operates the Sunrise of Esher care home in Esher, Surrey, appeared at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court where they were ordered to pay prosecutions costs of £25,575.87 and a £170 victim surcharge in addition to the significant fine after admitting failure to provide safe care and treatment.

The prosecution was brought against the provider by the CQC after an incident in which an extremely vulnerable 92-year-old woman was assaulted by another resident of the service while she was nursed in bed.

The court heard that, on 12th June 2016, the CQC were notified that Mrs. Eileen Traynor had been assaulted while in bed by an elderly male living with dementia who was also cared for at the service.

He attacked her with his zimmer frame, resulting in her sustaining injuries that required her to be hospitalised. Her underlying frailties had meant she was unable to defend herself or call for assistance.

The gentleman who assaulted Mrs. Traynor was removed from the service while she was being treated in hospital. She returned to the Sunrise of Esher care home later in June 2016.

She sadly died on 22nd November 2016, though not as a result of the injuries she sustained in the incident.

Sunrise Operations Esher Limited pleaded guilty to two charges. Firstly, for failing to provide safe care and treatment, which resulted in avoidable harm to Mrs Traynor while she was being cared for at the Sunrise of Esher care home. Secondly, they admitted to failing to provide safe care and treatment by exposing other people living in the service to a significant risk of avoidable harm.

Commenting on the case, the CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care, Debbie Ivanova, said: “This is a very distressing case and clearly Mrs Traynor did not get the safe care she was entitled to. I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to all of those affected by Mrs Traynor’s death.

“Mrs Traynor and her family had every right to expect good, quality care and we welcome that the provider has accepted full responsibility in this case.

“It was the serious failure of the home to protect people from avoidable harm that led to CQC’s prosecution of the provider. In their role as provider, Sunrise of Esher Operations Limited had a specific legal duty to ensure care and treatment was provided in a safe way. We found they had failed to do this by not ensuring risks had been fully assessed and measures were not in place to prevent harm to Mrs Traynor. I agree with the judge’s view that ‘this was a terrible event waiting to happen.’

“We appreciate how distressing this has been for Mrs Traynor’s family and we hope this case prompts other care home operators to review the care they provide to ensure people’s safety.

“Where we find any care provider has put people in its care at serious risk of harm, we will take action to ensure that people are safe and hold providers to account.”

First Response Training (FRT) is a leading, national training provider. They deliver over 7,000 courses each year in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, food hygiene, mental health, health and social care and more.

Their health and social care range includes Health and Safety, Personal Care, Safeguarding Adults, Dementia Awareness, Duty of Care, Dignity in Care and many more.

A trainer from FRT says: “Everyone has the right to feel safe from harm, and those who are vulnerable must be protected and receive the high quality, compassionate and safe care and treatment that they deserve.

“It’s important that all care providers ensure they meet safety standards and protect the people they support, providing appropriate training for their frontline staff.”

For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.

CQC report: the state of care in the shadow of Covid-19

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published its annual State of Care report, which this year reveals and compares the quality of health and social care in England both before and after the Covid-19 pandemic took hold.

CQC publish annual state of care reportThe major report shows that, in the period before the full impact of Covid-19 was felt, care in England was generally good.

There had, however, been very little overall improvement made and some specific areas of concern were identified. These included NHS emergency care, maternity and mental health services.

By 31st March 2020, more than half of all urgent and emergency care services had a CQC rating of Requires Improvement or Inadequate, while a quarter of maternity services were rated as Requires Improvement.

Within mental health, inspections continued to expose poor care in inpatient wards for people with learning disabilities or autism. The proportion of services rated as Inadequate rose from 4% to 13%, with the majority of deterioration seen in independent services, rather than NHS ones.

In social care, 80% of adult care services were rated as Good and 5% as Outstanding but the absence of a long-term funding plan had left the sector fragile, with investment and workforce planning urgently needed.

In primary medical services, overall ratings remained largely unchanged, with 89% of GP practices rated as good and 5% as outstanding. However, the CQC cautioned that these topline results masked a more volatile situation, with some GP practices deteriorating while others improved.

Covid changes the picture

The report, which is based on inspections and ratings data from 31,000 services and providers and draws upon other information such as staff and public surveys, reveals that these observations remain true following the onset of the pandemic but notes that many other factors within the health and care sector have changed.

Covid has led to changes in careThe initial response to the pandemic has provided opportunities to learn and things to build on or reassess for the future, while services which were already slow to improve must be sure not to fall farther behind.

For instance, the report highlights how services were able to quickly adapt to the new normal and develop procedures for new ways of working, often making use of technology. The transition to online and telephone GP consultations – something which was previously expected to take place over years – happened almost overnight.

The sector must now address how to retain and develop the best aspects of these new procedures while ensuring that no one is disadvantaged.

In the early days of the pandemic, decisions were made on a fire-fighting basis to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed, but the report stresses that now is the time to reset priorities to ensure that the longer-term response is more sophisticated and inclusive of all – regardless of what care people need or where they receive it.

Collaboration is key for fighting Covid

Local leaders need to collaborate and build capacity to respond together to the needs in their region.

Covid is magnifying inequalitiesThis renewed focus on people’s needs is made all the more vital by the fact that Covid-19 has had a significantly greater impact on those who were already more likely to experience poorer health outcomes. This includes people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities and people living in more deprived areas.

During the summer, the CQC reviewed the ways in which health, social care and other local services worked together in 11 parts of the country.

They found that there were differences in the way they responded to Covid-19 but there was evidence that the places with pre-established working relationships and a better understanding of the need in their local areas were better able to care for their local population during the crisis.

Covid ‘magnifying inequalities’

Lessons learned from these reviews need to be used to develop longer-term response plans for the pandemic. The CQC says these plans must recognise the backlog of people who could not access care during the height of the pandemic and the problems that pre-date Covid.

services need to see a backlog of patientsCovid-19 has essentially held up a magnifying glass to problems in the social care sector, including the need for reform, funding and workforce planning.

The CQC’s report about bitcoin360ai noted down carefully and calls for these issues to be addressed urgently and underpinned by a new deal for the care workforce – one which offers clear career progression, attracts the right skills and supports and values staff, with investment in training.

The CQC will continue to support improvement and take action against failing services to protect people from harm. They are particularly working to highlight areas such as commissioning and staffing which demand a national response in order to improve health and care outcomes.

The care watchdog will also be carrying out targeted programmes of work looking at building resilience across the sector as it continues to respond to Covid-19.

The Chief Executive of the CQC, Ian Trenholm, explains that, rather than being a ‘leveller’, the coronavirus pandemic is “magnifying inequalities.”

He says:

“Pre-Covid, the health and care system was often characterised as resistant to change. Covid has demonstrated that this is not the case. The challenge now is to maintain the momentum of transformation, but to do so in a sustainable way that delivers for everyone – driven by local leadership with a shared vision and supported by integrated funding for health and care.

“There is an opportunity now for Government, Parliament and health and care leaders to agree and lay out a vision for the future at both a national and local level. Key to this will be tackling longstanding issues in adult social care around funding and operational support, underpinned by a new deal for the care workforce. This needs to happen now – not at some point in the future.

“Covid is magnifying inequalities across the health and care system – a seismic upheaval which has disproportionately affected some more than others and risks turning fault lines into chasms. As we adjust to a Covid age, the focus must be on shaping a fairer health and care system – both for people who use services, and for those who work in them.”

Investment in the care workforce

First Response Training (FRT) is a leading national training provider.

Care workers have taken risks during the pandemicThey deliver over 200 different course types to a wide and diverse client base, providing training in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, food hygiene, mental health, health and social care and other special focus topics.

They work with hundreds of providers across the health and social care sector, delivering training that meets national occupational and Care Certificate standards and beyond.

Courses available include awards in Infection Control, Person Centred Care, Dignity in Care, Equality and Diversity, Dementia Awareness, Safeguarding Adults and more.

A trainer from FRT says:

“We know that those working in the care sector are an incredibly hard working and dedicated group of people. Many frontline care workers have put themselves at risk and made numerous sacrifices over the last few months to keep the people they support safe and well.

“The care sector is hurting, as they have been hit hard by this pandemic; but they have come out fighting and shown themselves to be adaptable.

“We are pleased that this report has highlighted that, while also detailing where improvements can be made and lessons learned to ensure better care for all now and in the future. Investment in staff training and development is one way of supporting this goal, ensuring staff feel valued and have the right skills to help the right people in the right way.”

For more information about the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or e-mail info@firstresponsetraining.com.

CQC report reflects on infection control during Covid-19

In the latest in their series of Covid-19 Insight reports, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is focusing on infection prevention and control across health and care settings.

The CQC's latest report focuses on infection controlEngland’s care watchdog has been publishing Insight reports in a bid to keep people working and living within health and social care settings safe and supported throughout the coronavirus pandemic. They want to share success stories and help people learn from what hasn’t gone so well, enabling organisations to better prepare for the future.

Their report on infection prevention and control (IPC) looks at the way that services across 11 different local authority areas have collaborated in response to Covid-19.

The section champions good practice in health and social care.

It includes findings from recent CQC inspections in care homes and focuses on safe admission, IPC for visitors, IPC policies and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

For acute hospitals, the watchdog has shared good practice examples around establishing specific IPC teams, PPE and the ways that different hospital have supported patients and visitors. The report also covers GP surgeries and their IPC measures, such as PPE, cleaning procedures, social distancing, minimising patient contact and communication regarding coronavirus.

Infection control is crucialIn the summer, the CQC completed provider collaboration reviews across 11 integrated care systems and NHS sustainability and transformation partnerships, focusing on care for people aged 65 and over, as they are at higher risk from coronavirus.

They found that understanding local population needs, including cultural differences, was incredibly important when it came to responding to the pandemic.

They also explain that the quality of existing relationships between local providers was a pivotal factor in the coordination and delivery of joined up care.

The CQC is due to share their full findings in October, but their current Insight report includes examples of the ways in which different settings had shared learning, protected staff, managed workforce capacity and utilised digital solutions to protect and support people.

sanitisation remains crucialYou can read the fourth issue of the CQC’s Covid-19 Insight report online now.

First Response Training (FRT) is a leading, national training provider. They deliver a wide and diverse range of courses in the fields of health and safety, first aid, fire safety, food hygiene, health and social care, mental health and other special focus topics

They work with hundreds of health and social care providers across the UK, delivering courses from induction level to further specialist skills and higher-level training.

Their range of courses includes awards in infection prevention and control. They can offer face-to-face, classroom style training in this subject as well as e-learning programmes, a distance learning manual and webinar sessions.

A health and social care trainer from FRT says:

“It goes without saying that the health and social care sectors have been hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK. It has been devastating. Our thoughts are with those who have lost patients, residents, colleagues and loved ones during this incredibly challenging time.

“All those in health and care are working hard to protect and support the most vulnerable. IPC is a huge, integral part of this.

“Learning as much as possible about Covid-19 and best practice in response to it, is also incredibly important. Care settings are learning from all they have experienced in the last 6 months to help them continue to battle this pandemic over the next 6 months.”

For more information about any of the training courses that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or e-mail info@firstresponsetraining.com.