CQC readiness, celebrating carers and what is coming next
June has been a busy one. From a free tool to help providers get inspection-ready, to celebrating the person who started it all, here is a round-up of what has been worth your time this month.
Whether you are weighing up your next CQC inspection, thinking about AI in care, or simply want to see what we have been up to, there is something below for you.
Is your service ready for inspection?
The CQC has been consulting on proposed changes to how it assesses care services, with new sector-specific frameworks set to replace the current Single Assessment Framework. The consultation closed in June, and while the detail is still being finalised, providers are right to be thinking now about what inspection readiness will look like under the new approach.
That readiness should be something built into everyday practice. Our free interactive CQC Inspection Readiness Checklist lets you benchmark your service against the areas inspectors focus on, with the proposed sector-specific frameworks in mind. It takes a few minutes and gives you a clear picture of where you stand.
The response has been strong, and the checklist has quickly become one of our most popular resources this year.
Celebrating our Founder and CEO
This month we marked the birthday of our Founder and CEO, David Lynes. Back in 2006, David set out to build software that would make life easier for the people who care for others. Over two decades on, that same belief still runs through everything we do at Unique IQ.
It was a nice chance to say thank you for the vision, the steady hand, and the genuine passion for this sector that started it all
Recognising carers in the heat
June brought a UK heatwave, and with it a reminder of the people who keep going regardless of the weather. Home carers were out making their visits in difficult conditions, looking after others while the temperatures climbed.
We took a moment to recognise that quiet dedication, and to gently remind carers to look after themselves too. It is easy to overlook your own welfare when your focus is always on someone else.
AI in care, built in and built to trust
Our position on AI has not changed: it should support carers, not replace them, with a human always in the loop. IQ:careassist helps teams co-author care plans, and IQ:careaudit reviews visit notes in real time to flag risks before they escalate. Both are built natively into the platform rather than bolted on.
If you are sceptical about AI in care, that is healthy. The right questions are the ones that keep technology honest and useful.
Two weeks that put care in the spotlight
June was also home to two national awareness weeks close to our work.
Carers Week ran from 8 to 14 June, with this year’s theme Building Carer Friendly Communities. We used it to look at a question the sector does not raise often enough: many of the people who deliver professional care are also unpaid carers at home. Our piece explored what a carer friendly workplace really looks like, and why supporting the working carers in your team is one of the smartest retention decisions a provider can make.
Shared Lives Week followed from 15 to 21 June, themed “Shout about Shared Lives.” The latest national data shows the model is growing, with more carers, more arrangements and more people supported. We looked at what that growth means for scheme managers, and why a model built on relationships deserves software that genuinely understands it.
Read: Building a Carer Friendly Workplace | Read about the growth of Shared Lives
Looking ahead
There is plenty more to come over the summer. We are continuing to build out resources around inspection readiness, and Care Show Birmingham is on the horizon for October, with more on our plans to follow.
We are also developing IQ:capture, our new care transcription software, currently in its pilot stages. It records consultations, interviews and review meetings, then turns them into a clear, structured summary. Connected with IQ:careassist, that summary feeds straight into care plan creation, cutting hours of admin down to minutes. You can register your interest now to be among the first to hear as it develops.
Register your interest in IQ:capture
Want to talk?
If anything here caught your eye and you would like to chat it through with our team, we are always happy to help. When you call Unique IQ, you speak to a real person, no bots or ticket queues that go nowhere.