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GO Online: Inspection toolkit

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Supporting people to live healthier lives

Keeping people healthy and supporting them to make informed choices is part of delivering effective care. The CQC will want to know how your service supports people to manage their health and wellbeing, including living as healthy a life as possible.

The following film provides a summary of this area of inspection. It can help you and your teams learn about what will be inspected and what is important to demonstrate to deliver good or outstanding care.

Introducing Supporting people to live healthier lives

Duration 01 min 41 sec

The CQC will look at how your service helps people to live healthier lives.

The inspectors will want to know what your service is doing to monitor the health and wellbeing of the people you support and enable them to access any assistance that is needed.

They will look at what you have in-place to monitor people’s health and how you respond to any changes. There will be an expectation that people are involved, where possible, in the monitoring of their own health and wellbeing.

Where health deteriorates, you will need to act promptly to refer and involve external assistance, including GPs, nurses, dentists, and other specialists as appropriate.

The CQC will also want to know how your service provides information about the healthcare options available, including tailoring these communications to reflect the needs of the individual.

CQC inspectors will interview the people you support, their families and friends about their experiences and learning more about how your service supports their health and wellbeing.

As part of the inspection, you can expect the CQC to also look at:

  • people’s health records
  • management plans
  • health action plans, appointments, and visits from healthcare professionals.
  • and complaints and compliments.

GO Online has grouped together recommendations, practical examples, and resources to help you meet this area of CQC inspection.

Watch the film here: https://vimeo.com/788207138

Resources

The practical resources below can help you to strengthen this area of CQC inspection. Use the filter to choose different types of resources or select based on related prompt.

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18 resource(s) found

Smiling matters: oral health care in care homes - progress report

Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (CQC)

This report shows the CQC’s findings from a review on the state of oral healthcare in care homes across England. The report reveals an extensive lack of awareness of NICE guidelines and includes case studies and recommendations about how to improve this, such as:

  • sharing best practice
  • repeating and reinforcing the guidance
  • mandatory staff training
  • oral health check-ups for all residents moving into a care home
  • a multi-agency group to raise awareness.

Following the original report publication in 2019, the CQC has now published a progress report to demonstrate how services are addressing this challenge and showcasing good practice being delivered in the sector.

  • Guide

Date published: March 2023


Autism

Resource creator: Skills for Care

Skills for Care has a dedicated website section covering a range of information and advice for services supporting people who live with a learning disability and/or autistic people in England.

We’ve worked with the National Autistic Society and Skills for Health to develop resources to help you ensure your staff have the right skills and knowledge when working with autistic people.

Our resources explain what skills and knowledge workers need to support autistic people, their carers and families, and can help employers to develop their workforce. On our website, you’ll find:

  • newsletters sharing the latest information for these services and how to sign up to receive future editions
  • the Oliver McGowan mandatory training for learning disability and/or autistic health and social care staff
  • recommended learning resources and upcoming events.
  • Website

Date published: November 2021


Looking at the skills and knowledge needed to support autistic people

Resource creator: Skills for Care

We estimate that over half a million adult social care workers support people who are living with a learning disability and/or autistic people in England. It's vital that these workers have the right values, skills and knowledge to provide high quality, person-centred care and support.

We’ve worked with the National Autistic Society and Skills for Health to develop resources to help you ensure your staff have the right skills and knowledge when working with autistic people.

Our resources explain what skills and knowledge workers need to support autistic people, their carers and families, and can help employers to develop their workforce.

  • Website

Date published: July 2021


Right support, right care, right culture: how CQC regulates providers supporting autistic people and people with a learning disability

Resource creator: Care Quality Commission (CQC)

This guide aimed primarily at residential providers includes a number of practical recommendations from the CQC in relation to support, including incorporating positive behavioural support into your practice.

  • Guide

Date published: October 2020


Promoting positive mental wellbeing for older people: a quick guide

Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This is a short and visually appealing guide for registered managers of care homes, containing key information from the relevant NICE guidance.

  • Guide

Date published: February 2020


Looking at the skills and knowledge needed to support people around mental health

Resource creator: Skills for Care

One in six adults experience a common mental health problem and we estimate that there are over half a million jobs in adult social care services that support people with a mental health condition.

Adult social care staff need to have the right values, skills and knowledge to promote good mental health and wellbeing with the people they support.

This page explores what skills and knowledge staff that work in mental health services need, and shares resources to help employers to develop their workforce.

  • Website

Date published: January 2020


Looking at the skills and knowledge needed to support people living with dementia

Resource creator: Skills for Care

With the right skills and knowledge, staff can provide a good quality of life at every stage of the condition, allowing people living with dementia to remain active and engaged, for as long as possible. Our resources and qualifications will help you deliver better care for people living with dementia.

  • Website

Date published: January 2020


Learning disability and mental health

Resource creator: Skills for Care

People with a learning disability can be more likely to experience poor mental health. We've developed free resources to help adult social care staff talk to people about their everyday mental health, and enable them to get the support they need.

  • Website

Date published: January 2020


Looking at the skills and knowledge needed to support people with a learning disability

Resource creator: Skills for Care

We estimate that over half a million adult social care workers support people who have a learning disability and/or autistic people in England. It's vital that these workers have the right values, skills and knowledge to provide high quality, person-centred care and support.

We have a range of resources to help support the workforce and they explain what skills and knowledge workers need to support people with a learning disability, their carers and families, and how adult social care employers can develop their staff. We facilitate an 'expert group of people with a learning disability and autistic people' to make sure the resources meet sector needs.

  • Website

Date published: January 2020


Service user experience in adult mental health services (QS14)

Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This NICE Quality Standard advocates that people can access mental health services, including crisis support, when they need them.

  • Guide

Date published: July 2019


Learning disability: care and support of people growing older (QS187)

Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This quality standard covers identifying, assessing and regularly reviewing the care and support needs of people with a learning disability as they grow older.

People with a learning disability have many of the same age-related health and social care needs as other people, but this quality standard focuses on the specific challenges associated with their learning disability. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

The statements are specific and concise and focus on priorities for quality improvement. In particular, please see statements 4 and 5.

  • Guide

Date published: July 2019


Helping to prevent pressure ulcers: a quick guide

Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This is a short and visually appealing guide for registered managers of care homes and care homes with nursing, containing key information from the relevant NICE guidance.

  • Guide

Date published: January 2019


Looking at the skills and knowledge needed to support people around pressure ulcers

Resource creator: Skills for Care

Pressure ulcers are damage to the skin and the tissue underneath it, as a result of prolonged pressure. They usually develop on skin that covers bony parts of the body such as heels, ankles, tailbone and hips.

They can be extremely painful and even life-threatening if left untreated. If they're a result of neglect or poor care, or if they aren't treated properly, this can be a safeguarding issue.

It's important that everyone working in adult social care, including front-line care workers and managers, know about pressure ulcers and how to treat them.

You might already have guidance in your organisation or from your local authority. If not, we've brought together useful resources to help you and your workforce learn more. These explain who's at risk, what you need to look out for, how to reduce the risk and what your responsibilities are as an employer.

  • Website

Date published: December 2018


Brief guide: Positive behaviour support for people with behaviours that Challenge

Resource creator: Care Quality Commission

This document provides a summary and short case studies representing good practice in relation to positive behavioural support. It explains the CQC’s policy position and which of their regulations this focus relates to.

  • Guide

Date published: April 2018


Oral health in care homes (QS151)

Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This NICE Quality Standard advocates that adults living in care homes have their mouth care needs recorded in their personal care plan. 

  • Guide

Date published: June 2017


Learning disabilities: identifying and managing mental health problems (QS142)

Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This is the NICE quality standard on the prevention, assessment and management of mental health problems in people with learning disabilities in all settings. It includes statements and measures on:

  • mental health assessments
  • key workers
  • tailoring psychological interventions.

The statements are specific and concise and focus on priorities for quality improvement. In particular, please see statements 1, 2 and 3.

  • Guide

Date published: January 2017


Improving oral health for adults in care homes: a quick guide

Resource creator: National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

This is a short and visually appealing guide for care home managers, containing key information from the relevant NICE guidance.

  • Guide

Date published: October 2016


Mental health

Resource creator: Skills for Care

These resources are designed to help you understand Mental health support within your service.

This section includes guides around:    

  • Building resilience
  • The ‘Mental Health Core Skills Education and Training Framework’
  • Core Principles supporting mental health and wellbeing   
  • Co-production in mental health
  • Guide


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