Fuel poverty can be defined in multiple ways across the UK. The fuel poverty strategy across England specifically focuses on prioritising low-income households for energy efficiency support aimed at reducing income poverty.
It is estimated that 6 million UK households are currently in fuel poverty, unable to afford to heat their homes to a temperature needed to keep warm and healthy, a 2 million household increase since 2021.
But what is fuel poverty? What causes fuel poverty, what are the impacts, and how can fuel poverty awareness be raised to help increase funding and tackle fuel poverty so everyone can live in warmer, healthier, and safer homes?
At Access Elemental Social Prescribing, we know how the wider social determinants of health impact physical and mental wellbeing, with housing being a main example.
This article will explain how fuel poverty is defined and measured, what causes it, the outcomes, and methods to tackle fuel poverty to improve quality of life.
By explaining the benefits of social prescribing in housing, this article will explain how providing the right support helps to tackle fuel poverty by not just supporting households now but in the future too.
Handovers in care homes should accurately convey information about residents’ conditions and needs across shift changes. They ensure that everyone is made aware of everything significant that has occurred before they start their shift. This process safeguards the continued safety of both residents and staff.
Handover notes are handwritten or electronic documents that a member of staff completes and shares with the person relieving them of their shift. They should list the tasks that have been recently completed, any updates, and instructions for the next shift.
In this article we will explore the best ways to carry out an effective handover in your care home and discuss how handover templates can help the process.
The CQC single assessment framework is now live for all adult social care
providers across the country and the new CQC provider portal is currently live for selected providers, with limited functionality, e.g. restricted to some notification types.
With the Single Assessment Framework, the CQC is aiming for a more dynamic and data-led strategy that puts people’s experiences at the forefront of regulation and the heart of the assessment framework.
As a care provider, it’s crucial that you understand the new inspection regime and how these significant changes to the way they regulate and inspect may affect you. This article has been created to help you understand more about the CQC's new inspection and assessment framework and the background to these changes.
You can also download this comprehensive guide, and sign up for our compliance experts' monthly updates on everything CQC.
Dignity in care should be a priority for everyone working in the care sector. Promoting respect and dignity in care should focus on how care is designed and delivered. Both dignity and respect in health and social care form the fundamental pillars that shape the quality of a service that is provided to an individual and when implemented correctly, it can improve the interactions between service users and carers as well as their quality of life.
But preserving and promoting dignity and respect in care is sometimes easier said than done. How can you ensure staff know how to strike the balance between providing care and support, without compromising people’s dignity? The first step to preserving dignity in health and social care is understanding what it means and why it’s so important.
For over 30 years, we at The Access Group have digitised care services across the world. We aim to improve the lives of both service users and providers by giving them the freedom to do more. Working in the care sector for decades, we’ve seen great examples of how you can ensure dignity and respect. This article has been created from those experiences, to explore the definition and significance of respect and dignity in care, alongside various things you can do to promote and preserve it in your service.
Social care consultancy, or write policies and procedures yourself, use template services, or use fully digital solutions. There are now more options than to create, manage and maintain policies and procedures in your care service, but you’re probably wondering which one is best for you?
Many care providers have find themselves in a similar situation, and there are now more options than ever to develop and manage your policies and procedures. So to help, I’ve written this article.
Care policies and procedures are essential to registering and operating a care service anywhere in the UK. You need to keep your policies and procedures up to date; with regulations, legislation, best practice and the manner in which your service operates. Failing to do so could land you in hot water with your regulator, and could even impact the quality and safety of the care you provide.
Reducing hospital admissions and the dependency on primary, secondary, and emergency care is a huge priority for health and social care professionals. Many organisations, hospitals, and NHS Trusts are looking to find new ways to reduce admissions as well as reduce re-admission after discharge.
With over 500,000 patients experiencing emergency admissions last year and over 42,000 of them waiting over 12 hours to be admitted, more action is needed to find better methods to prevent hospital admissions and re-admissions, including unnecessary admissions.
Shifting from reactive care models to preventative ones is one method that is being used more frequently. Many different preventative and early intervention methods can be used, but which are the most effective?
At The Access Group, we want to help local authorities, primary care, secondary care, and NHS Trusts to reduce the increasing demand by using effective population health management to reduce health inequalities and deliver more targeted support for at-risk patients of continuous re-admission.
This article will review why admissions are on the rise and the impact this has on the individual as well as the wider health and social care market. Ways to prevent hospital admissions will also be discussed to help you deliver better coordinated, person-centred, and preventative care that always concentrates on the individual.
Working out the right staff to resident ratio is a common and pressing concern for both care homes and nursing homes. It’s a trickly balancing act involving both financial and ethical considerations. You want to run your home as efficiently as possible while still safeguarding the safety and wellbeing of your residents.
The CQC’s official position on staff ratios is set out in Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: Regulation 18.
In the guidance to Regulation 18, the CQC states:
“Providers must deploy sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to make sure that they can meet people's care and treatment needs and therefore meet the requirements of Section 2 of these regulations (the fundamental standards).”
If you’re wondering “How many carers for 30 residents?” or “How many carers should be on a night shift?” or any other similar questions, the regulations do not offer one-size-fits-all answers that can apply across all services.
As set out in the CQC’s guidance, the correct approach is to learn how to answer these questions in a way that is unique to your service. This article will show you the most effective methods and tools to use to determine the right staff ratio for your needs.
Setting up a home care agency is a step taken by veteran business people from outside of social care, and more frequently by those who have worked in social care for many years.
The home care marketplace has a ‘long tail’, meaning there are a very small number of medium-large operators, with the rest of the market demand being met by small care agencies, typically focused entirely on local markets.
Agencies in this group will typically have 1-2 offices and less than 50 care workers at any time. This is hardly surprising given the nature of home care, with its emphasis on locality, personability and the relative importance of each client to the size of the business.
So if you are wondering how to start a domiciliary care agency, you are not alone. As the UK's leading provider of home care software, including our exclusive care agency start-up package we've got plenty of experience in watching our clients start up their own home care agencies, so I've put the main steps together in this article.
Feedback in health and social care is often overlooked. When it comes to understanding the experiences, perspectives and needs of people drawing on support, caregivers and regulatory bodies, nothing can compare to care feedback. In England, CQC feedback forms are the cornerstone of continuous improvement and quality assurance in care, so should be taken advantage of.
Good communication in health and social care is the first step to developing good relationships with people and generating consistent feedback that can be used to praise your team or motivate them to change and improve the care your service offers. It’s also key to promoting empowerment in health and social care, which gives people in your care the feeling of control and autonomy over their lives.
We at The Access Group have been working with care services across the country for over 30 years, providing them with high-quality digital services, support and information to help them succeed. We have put this article together along with other useful resources to help you understand feedback in health and social care, its importance and how you can use feedback to improve your quality of care.
Knowing how to achieve an outstanding CQC report starts with considering the CQC’s five key questions: are services safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led? These questions form the basis of the CQC’s inspection and assessment framework, and they address what the CQC needs to see in terms of high-quality, safe, and person-centred care.
This article will break down the methodology behind the CQC’s rating process. We will share proven strategies that you can implement to improve your CQC rating. By committing to these strategies and continuously striving for excellence, you can work towards getting your own outstanding rating.
