FAQ

The service you require, the extent of the work required, and the outcomes needed, will determine the level of support you need. If you need onsite, hands on support then yes, this can be delivered. It is however, always important to have employees onsite learning and developing their skills so the delivered service can be maintained once the consultant is no longer required.

The CQC are regulators of Healthcare Services within the UK, and it stands for the Care Quality Commission.

https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/our-purpose-role/who-we-are

They are responsible for assessing if an organisation is suitable and appropriate to deliver a service against the Health and Social Care Act as well as the CQC regulations and fundamental elements of the Care Act. CQC will use Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE) which are specific domains known as safe, effective, caring, well-led and responsive to base their inspections, registration, and general criteria to help make their decisions. They are responsible for not only registering a service to permit them to operate, but also to regulate, monitor and inspect the service; responding on any alerts or concerns and providing support where needed.  

The CQC does possess a variety of legal powers including:

• To carry out inspections / visits to premises (with or without warnings)

• To request and obtain information from providers

• Issue information publicly about providers

To impose sanctions if felt necessary, and if standards are being breached

These are different organisations; they all have authority in certain areas, but their responsibility is different, as is their goals. The Local Authority and CCG are often important when the service being delivered is sub-contracted via these teams. If the Local Authority or CCG are providing funding for a service which you deliver, such as one to one care, beds in a care home or set elective surgery lists via the NHS, then they have a right to visit your organisation and gain reassurance that you are delivering the service you are paid to, and that it meets their expectations as well we the standards within the CQC. All organisations often work together in cases of concern, safeguarding and when inadequacies have been noticed.

Key Lines of Enquiry, or KLOEs for short, is the framework used by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to assess whether an organisation is providing the best quality of care and meeting the expected standards. 

There are five different KLOEs that apply to every health and social care setting: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led. Against each of these KLOEs, the CQC rates a care provider as either outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. The CQC will also give a separate rating for the organisation as a whole.  

Absolutely, it is always easier to work with an organisation before they have been warned by the CQC to improve, and to avoid this happening at all. However, we can help services troubleshoot and repair their service to ensure the CQC is restored with confidence and to help remove warnings, reduce sanctions if possible and if not, help work passed them to ensure they do not happen again.

Any interaction with the regulator which seems negative can be unsettling for any business and its’ employees, it is vital that steps are taken to steady the workforce, maintain patient / service user safety and work methodically through the actions needed to restore balance.

As an external consultant, we are often invited into a service to assess it against the regulations, we will inspect the service as if we were the CQC, very thoroughly and we then provide a report based on our findings, allowing you feedback to learn from.

Mock inspections are great because they allow you time to repair anything before an actual inspection by the regulator, they allow for a transparent report, and they give you direction and focus. The Consultant can then help you implement changes, share tools, policies, and good practice to uplift your chances significantly of a positive regulator inspection.

Mock inspections can also be private, you don’t have to declare to the CQC that you have used a consultant, and the consultant would not disclose this. Often, engaging with third parties and external consultants shows the CQC that you are happy to receive objective feedback, CQC often praise this practice, particularly in smaller organisations or in organisations where the main employee-base is family-led.

Yes, you request a service and before delivering any service, the Consultant will send you a Service Level Agreement, this details the level of confidentiality agreed and this would not be broken unless the law dictates it so. The consultant will always be professional, conduct their work in your best interests and always talk to you before escalating anything outside of the agreed terms.

Our Consultants are very experienced in this field, having converted several standard office buildings into private clinics and hospitals with General Anaesthetic Theatres, this is something they can expertly advise on.

We have experience from A to Z set-up and can offer all support or minimal, depending on your assessed needs. The initial consultation and evaluation of needs is conducted complimentary, the Consultant will then deliver to you a plan of works and a Service Level Agreement, it is then your decision to proceed. The terms can always be readjusted as the project grows too.

Setting up any service can be a maze of opportunity, deciding on the building, facilities and materials while having clear objectives around the service you wish to deliver is not easy. Having a consultant guide you on regulations, HTM (Health Technical Memorandum), design and layout as well as Human Resources, CQC registration, Home Office Licenses and insurance can take the pressure from you so you can focus on the finer details. It also means that when you have expert advice, you don’t have to worry down the line that expensive mistakes have been made, delaying the opening of your new service.

CQC will rarely issue sanctions without first trying to support an organisation as much as possible, allowing time to make changes and giving space to remedy errors. When they have exhausted all possible options, the below only become possible when an organisation shows to progress or development and often show no lessons learned.

• Issue a restricted "Conditional" registration

• Issue formal warning notices

• Levy fines for failure to comply

• Suspend a registration

• Cancel a registration

• Procedure for serious falures

Cost is very bespoke, often a consultant will discuss your needs and provide you with an evaluation and costs. There are rates available for one-off day visits, rates for mock inspections depending on the size of the service and time anticipated as well as hourly rates for ad-hoc support. Some clients decide to have a consultant on a retainer, paying a set amount monthly so they have someone to reach out to just in case, for peace of mind and assurance. There are flexible ways to look at all options, but importantly, they are individual and focussed on your needs, so you are only paying for what you absolutely need.

A qualified Consultant, fully Enhance DBS checked with the required training and qualifications based on your needs. They may be accompanied by an assistant, often admin support, but these people will also be DBS checked.

Choosing a consultant, when there are many available means you get to decide on the right person for you. Often people choose the cheapest, or the one who lives closest or even the larger more expensive company because they think they will have the most experience.

What is important is that any client is offered a complimentary consultation and needs assessment so they can spend some time getting to know the Consultant who will be completing the task and really understanding what is needed and expected from both parties.

CLINIVI, Vicky Edwards,with 12 years’ experience as a Management and Clinical Consultant and 17 Years’ experience as a qualified registered general nurse guarantees excellence, professionalism, no-jargon complete service where you are the centre of the project and your needs are paramount.

While based in the North of England, we will travel to any location.