The CQC monitoring and inspection on Infection, prevention and control will look at how you protect people, and how effective the service is in responding to outbreaks.
Staff will be expected to be trained, knowledgeable, and competent. They must comply with guidelines around the use of personal protective equipment and other mitigations.
Where the people use or live at your premises, these will need to be kept clean and free from infection. In community-based care, staff play an important role in Infection, Prevention and Control of people’s own home environments.
Staff should be empowered to raise concerns, external agencies should be alerted as appropriate … and if any areas for improvement are identified, these should be addressed.
If your service supports people around food preparation and storage, additional training appropriate to their role will be required. Regular cleaning must be to a consistently high standard.
You must maintain clear records, including evidence of audits, spot checks and other approaches to ensure standards are met. The CQC may also be looking at how you are protecting people and your team by promoting testing and vaccination opportunities.
The CQC will also want to know what processes and procedures you have in place for notifying themselves and other agencies of outbreaks and for responding to outbreaks. CQC inspectors will prepare for inspections by reviewing data and documentation provided in advance.
Inspectors may subsequently interview a range of managers, staff and people who use or engage with your service.
The inspectors may look at:
- infection control-related induction and training arrangements
- cleaning schedules, hygiene, and infection control policies and records
- and your Food Standard Agency rating.
We hope the recommendations, examples and resources in GO Online help you to meet or exceed this area of CQC inspection.
Watch the film here: https://vimeo.com/789624623