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What are the CQC’s 5 key questions?
The Care Quality Commission regulate all care services across the UK and ask 5 key questions during their inspection to ensure that they focus on the things that matter to people.
- Are they safe? Safe: you are protected from abuse and avoidable harm.
- Are they effective? Effective: your care, treatment and support achieves good outcomes, helps you to maintain quality of life and is based on the best available evidence.
- Are they caring? Caring: staff involve and treat you with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Are they responsive to people’s needs? Responsive: services are organised so that they meet your needs.
- Are they well-led? Well-led: the leadership, management and governance of the organisation make sure it’s providing high-quality care that’s based around your individual needs, that it encourages learning and innovation, and that it promotes an open and fair culture.
How can technology assist home care providers meet the 5 key questions?
- Are they safe? – Using eMAR (Electronic Medication Administration Record) to reduce medication mistakes and improve service delivery for those being cared for
- Are they effective? – How electronic care planning can enhance the delivery of effective care
- Are they caring? – Giving carers more time to attend to the practical needs of their client and a more personal service
- Are they responsive? – How technology can bring reassurance to both clients and family members
- Are they well-led? – Using data to spot patterns and look for trends, which in turn can be used to identify where improvements need to be made
See how Unique IQ’s software has been highlighted in CQC reports
How can home care providers can use technology to improve care?
The CQC has made ‘encouraging innovation’ one of its strategic priorities, recognising that digitally-enabled care can offer significant benefits to people who use services and those who run and deliver them. We explore what providers can be doing now to improve quality and look ahead to what the future holds for the sector.
- Digital care records – The latest guidance from the CQC on what ‘good’ digital care records look like
- Electronic care plans – the benefits of transitioning to digital care plans
- What happened in 2020? A guide to the latest technology policy and reform in the sector
- A new way of inspecting and rating providers, CQC rolls out virtual inspections pilot
- How technology was identified as a marker of quality in 2019 State of Care report
- Encouraging innovation to improve care – CQC urges the care industry to go digital
- Culturally appropriate care – how care providers can ensure they are meeting the CQC’s latest draft guidance on cultural competence
In 2021 the CQC launched its new strategy for the changing world of health and social care. The strategy focuses on four themes:
- People and communities
- Smarter regulation
- Safety through learning
- Accelerating improvement
And in October 2021 Joyce Frederick, Director of Policy and Strategy wrote about the way that the 5 key questions will continue to stay central to the approach of the CQC, but that an updated framework for making judgements about the quality of care would be introduced.
It’s a hugely exciting time for embracing the potential of technology, but it’s important to remember the care that’s at the centre of it. People’s quality of life and wellbeing, in some cases people’s lives, is dependent on the technology that we introduce into home care. And as technology providers, we have a responsibility to remember that as we strive to better our tech.
