CQC focus on Policies and Procedures

Having robust policies and procedures has always been a vital component in delivering safe and effective services but also ensures providers comply with their legal responsibilities. Over the last couple of years, we have seen increased scrutiny of policies and procedures by the regulator, especially during the initial registration process.

A common problem is policies are often not up to date or are not effectively communicated to staff. You could have robust, detailed and up-to-date policies but if they are not effectively communicated to staff and their understanding of the policies then CQC will at best give you a Requires Improvement rating under the effective domain and possibly inadequate if these failings are translating into possible risks of harm to the people that use or work in the service.

Up-to-date health and social care policies and procedures

Up-to-date social care policies and procedures that staff understand and know how to access facilitate effective communication at all levels of the organisation and with external stakeholders, thus ensuring that everyone understands the protocols and standards required to provide the best possible care.

Policies and procedures are also there to protect providers should something go wrong. When investigating a breach of the regulations, the investigating officer will always ask to see a copy of the relevant policies and procedures – so keeping them up to date and accessible is vital in reducing providers’ exposure to risk and potential legal action

Keeping policies and procedures up to date is no easy task. Legislation, good practice guidance and case law are constantly changing the industry landscape and policies can become out of date very quickly if these changes are not effectively monitored.

W&P has been a trusted provider of CQC policies and procedures for over 20 years, our policy team is constantly monitoring industry developments to ensure that our policies and procedures are always up to date.

Our new online policy portal takes compliance to another level and is the most advanced policy system currently on the market. The portal takes the strain out of managing policies, such as updating policies with a just few clicks of the mouse, easily circulating to staff and staff confirming they have read and understood the policies. All this information is assimilated into a simple dashboard to assess compliance in seconds.

CQC want to see that policies are up to date but equally important they want to see how they are shared with staff and their understanding of the subject matter. The W&P portal can do this and more, you can even grant the regulator temporary read-only access to the portal so they can see it for themselves.

For more information about W&P policies and procedures and the policy portal email us at info@wandptraining.co.uk

If you would rather talk in person, then please call us on 01305 767104

For more information on CQC focus on Policies and Procedures talk to W&P Assessment and Training Centre