Skills for Care
Top

Single Assessment Framework version

All services - change

GO Online: Inspection toolkit

Print this page

Involving people to manage risk

Protecting people from harm should be a priority for adult social care services. Practical and proactive approaches can help services quickly assess risks and regularly review and adjust them.

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 Involving people to manage risk

Duration 02 min 01 sec

The CQC will expect you to support people to help them to understand and manage risks every day.

The CQC inspectors will want to know how you involve people in these matters, keeping them safe but not restricting their lives.

The CQC will look at how you support people to take positive risks that enable them to live freely and achieve personal goals. There will be the expectation that your service always seeks out the least restrictive ways to achieve this.

Where risks are identified, document and detail how to mitigate these. Use dynamic risk assessments to support people where possible and ensure that these are live records, updated to reflect people’s changing needs. If your risk assessment reference other documents, such as Care Plans, ensure information does not contradict each other.

Your risk assessment and associated policies and procedures should reflect legislation, human rights, equality, and capacity.

Your staff should be proactive, capable, and confident to undertake risk assessments. This may require training to build confidence.

Be prepared to evidence the difference you are making to people’s lives. This is something to be celebrated and shared with inspectors to show the impact of the care you are providing.

The CQC may look at how you communicate risks to the people you support in a way that they can be easily understood.

If you support people who have behaviours that challenge, the CQC inspectors will want to know how your service supports and promotes ways of working that avoids the need for physical restraint.

Any restrictive intervention must be legally and ethically justified and be absolutely necessary to prevent serious harm. Always look for the least restrictive option.

Please take a look at the associated recommendations, examples, and resources in GO Online to help you to manage risk within your service.

Watch the film here: https://vimeo.com/789624516

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.

Filter by resource type


15 resource(s) found

CQC Policy position on restrictive practices

Resource creator: Care Quality Commission

The CQC published this blog to announce their updated policy position on restrictive practice. Using our existing legislation, the CQC will expect all providers of health and social care to know what restrictive practice looks like, and to actively work to reduce its use in health and care settings.

The CQC expect leaders of services, systems, and all those working in health and social care to take immediate steps to identify and reduce restrictive practices in their services, where possible. The new policy and inspector guidance will be incorporated into the CQC Single Assessment Framework for inspecting services.

  • Guide

Date published: August 2023


Managing risk, minimising restraint

Resource creator: Social Care Institute of Excellence (scie)

Use this summary to strengthen understanding of the use of restraint in care homes. It examines:

  • what restraint means
  • whether it’s acceptable and in what circumstances
  • approaches to minimise restraint
  • what is good practice?
  • Guide

Date published: April 2021


Managing risks and risk assessment at work

Resource creator: Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

This website provides an overview of employer responsibilities in relation to health and safety at work. It includes:

  • steps needed to manage risk
  • risk assessment template and examples
  • more detail on managing risk.
  • Template
  • Website

Date published: April 2021


Skills for Care: ‘Strengthening your risk assessments’ checklist

Resource creator: Skills for Care

This checklist enables you to reflect on the strengths and areas for improvement of your risk assessments.

  • Checklist

Date published: December 2020


Risk assessment examples

Resource creator: Quality Compliance Systems (QCS)

Skills for Care has teamed up with QCS to provide a comprehensive document which includes some practical examples of risk assessments for the people you support and your staff, as well as how these can be reviewed.

It also includes a list of risk assessments available from QCS to help you to consider which risk assessments you may need.

  • Template
  • Guide

Date published: December 2020


Risk assessment – key principles to apply to protect your people, staff and service

Resource creator: Skills for Care

This recorded webinar provides a summary of the key ways to build confidence in risk assessments and learn how to take positive risks, even during challenging times. It looks at:

  • key principles for risk assessments
  • different types of risk assessments
  • developing your skills further
  • practical examples.
  • Film

Date published: December 2020


Practical approaches to COVID-19 risk assessments

Resource creator: Skills for Care

This resource includes recommendations relating specifically to risk assessments that adult social care services are using in response to the pandemic. Useful templates and other relevant resources are also included.

  • Checklist

Date published: December 2020


Practical approaches to risk assessments

Resource creator: Skills for Care

This resource covers the key principles that can be applied to various types of risk assessments. This information may be particularly useful to newer frontline managers and other staff who have limited experience of undertaking risk assessments.

  • Checklist

Date published: December 2020


COVID-19 personal risk assessment process

Resource creator: Manor Community, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston

This process should be used to help managers and staff hold a constructive discussion to consider adjustments, or redeployment for any staff that are identified as being at greater risk.

The risk assessment helps providers to consider factors including:

  • age
  • underlying health issues
  • ethnicity
  • pregnancy.

It also includes a decision tree to help managers to support staff at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

  • Template

Date published: September 2020


Restraint Reduction Network training standards

Resource creator: Restraint Reduction Network

The CQC and Skills for Care expect all adult social care services to adopt the standards.

  • If you're a learning provider, you can use this audit tool to compare your existing provision against the standards.
  • If you're a provider or someone who needs care and support, you can use the audit tool to understand what training should be provided and ask the right questions to ensure that the training you commission meets these standards.
  • Learning

Date published: December 2019


Suicide prevention (QS189)

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

This quality standard covers ways to reduce suicide and help people bereaved or affected by suicide. 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 statement 4 and 5.

  • Guide

Date published: September 2019


Learning disability: behaviour that challenges (QS101)

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

NICE quality standard on the care of children, young people and adults with a learning disability and behaviour that challenges.

It includes statements and measures on:

  • initial assessment of behaviour that challenges
  • a designated coordinator for the behaviour support plan
  • personalised daily activities- review of restrictive interventions
  • the use of antipsychotic medication.

The statements are specific and concise and focus on priorities for quality improvement.

  • Guide

Date published: July 2019


Learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges: service design and delivery (NG93)

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

This guideline covers services for children, young people and adults with a learning disability (or autism and a learning disability) and behaviour that challenges. It aims to promote a lifelong approach to supporting people and their families and carers, focusing on prevention and early intervention and minimising inpatient admissions.

This guideline should be read alongside the NICE guideline on challenging behaviour and learning disabilities: prevention and interventions.

  • Guide

Date published: March 2018


Violent and aggressive behaviours in people with mental health problems (QS154)

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

This is the NICE quality standard on the short-term prevention and management of violent and physically threatening behaviour among adults, children and young people with a mental health problem. It includes statements and measures on:

  • identifying triggers and warning signs
  • preventing and managing violent and aggressive behaviour.

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

  • Guide

Date published: June 2017


Falls in older people (QS86)

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

This is the NICE quality standard on the prevention of falls and assessment after a fall in older people (aged 65 and over) who are living in the community or staying in hospital. It includes statements and measures on:

  • identifying people at risk of falling
  • risk assessment for older people at risk of falling
  • strength and balance training
  • home hazard assessment and 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



Developed in partnership with