The Care Quality Commission - Regulating Your Care

Find out more about the Care Quality Commission’s role in regulating care and how their rating and reporting system can help you choose the right homecare provider.

If you’re looking for homecare services for yourself or a loved one, you’ll come across the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The main regulatory body for health and social care services in the UK, the CQC monitor and inspect care providers to ensure they uphold quality and safety standards and have powers to take legal action against any service failing to meet requirements.
As a customer, a CQC inspection report is a really important tool to help you decide whether a particular care provider will meet your needs adequately. Designed to assess the essential elements of a service, it gives you detailed information on how the provider is performing, as well as an overall rating.
 

CQC Ratings Explained

When rating at a homecare service, the CQC inspection looks at 5 main areas:

Is it safe? – Are customers protected from physical and emotional abuse and avoidable harm?

Is it effective? – Does the care and support adequately meet customers’ needs and help them maintain a good quality of life?

Is it caring? – Do customers feel their human rights are respected and are they treated with dignity, kindness and respect?

Is it responsive to people’s needs? – Do customers have comprehensive, flexible care plans that address and change with their unique requirements and are complaints dealt with effectively?

Is it well-led? – Does the care provider support their staff, give them clear direction and address problems effectively? Do the staff work as a team and liaise well with other agencies?

Depending on how the service fares when assessed under these 5 categories, the CQC give it a rating for each area. Service providers can achieve one of 4 levels:

1. Outstanding - The service provided is exceptionally good. 
2. Good - Care is up to standard and the provider is performing well.
3. Requires Improvement - The care given isn’t up to the standard that it should be and the CQC have informed the provider of the improvements they need to make.
4. Inadequate - The care provider is performing badly and the CQC has taken enforcement action against them.

For anyone who is looking for care, the CQC rating system makes life easier when comparing providers to ensure you get the best possible service.
 

Ensuring the Quality and Safety of Your Homecare

Once you’ve compared local homecare services using the rating system, you can read about each provider in more detail in the CQC’s published inspection report. If you’re looking for care in the South East London area, Bluebird Care Lewisham & Southwark’s most recent CQC inspection report shows you how we’re consistently providing high-quality homecare across our community.

For further general information, the Care Quality Commission also have a handy guide on what you should expect from a good homecare agency that’s well worth a read.
 
If you’d like to know more about how Bluebird Care Sevenoaks could help you receive care at home, get in touch via our contact page, email or give us a call in the office on 020-7635-1930. We offer a range of flexible homecare services, from occasional or daily visits, to respite and Live-in Care.