20th August 2009
The Care Quality Commission consultation on new registration standards is drawing to a close
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has sent out a reminder for those interested in health and adult social care that the deadline for comments on guidance for the new legally enforceable registration requirements is only four days away.
From April 2010, the regulator will begin to put in place the first ever registration system covering all health and adult social care services in England, whether they are public or independent.
The CQC released draft guidance in June, outlining what services must do to meet the registration requirements set by the government. It has undertaken a comprehensive consultation exercise to get feedback from across the sector, including from people who use services, service providers, professional bodies and advocacy organisations.
Consultation on the guidance will close on Monday 24 August.
So far, CQC has received more than 300 written responses to the consultation. In addition, about 1500 people attended the three national and nine regional events held to discuss the draft guidance.
The CQC recognises that for some people, written communication and large meetings are not “user-friendly”. For this reason, it held 15 smaller meetings with targeted groups, for example those with learning disabilities and various neurological conditions (such as Asperger’s syndrome or Tourette’s syndrome).
Linda Hutchinson, director of registration at CQC, said:
This is a fundamental change to the way that quality of health and adult social care is regulated and we must get it right.
We want a system that puts the people using services at the very heart of everything we do. That’s why we’ve gone to great lengths to hear from all different types of people using health and adult social care services.
If you haven’t yet commented on the draft guidance, but want to have your say, there is still some time remaining in the consultation period.
CQC will carefully consider the feedback it received during the consultation period and amend the guidance where necessary. It will publish the final guidance in December.
To download the consultation documents on new registration standards, please visit here or call the customer service centre on 03000 616161.
(Source – Care Quality Commission)