CQC inspections of local authorities were reintroduced as part of the Health and Care Act 2022, as you are probably already aware.
These changes allow the CQC to act upon their additional responsibilities laid out in the Care Act 2014. Here their additional responsibilities include assessing how local authorities are meeting their adult social care duties including market shaping, market oversight and more.
You may be wondering exactly how the CQC inspections of local authorities will work, what will the CQC be assessing, and most importantly how can your local council can best prepare for CQC local authority inspections.
At the Access Group we want to make sure that all local authorities are as prepared as they can be for these new inspection changes, and we will be answering these key questions in this article.
As well as addressing the fundamentals about the changes to the CQC inspection we will also address how the CQC have been preparing their assessment methods and what they discovered from testing and the changes they are making to ensure when these new inspections take place they will be effective and beneficial for all those involved.
20% of patients consult their GP for primarily social issues putting more pressure onto the NHS. Social prescribing is a scheme to help alleviate that pressure.
There is evidence that when a social prescribing scheme is run correctly it can both alleviate pressure on the NHS and improve patients’ wellbeing. Here at Access Elemental Social Prescribing, it’s our passion to help social prescribing services achieve great outcomes from the hard work they put in. We know social prescribing works and we love to help other social prescribing projects prove that whilst putting your clients at the heart of everything we do to help improve their wellbeing.
Here is a review of the evidence that has been collected so far, and tips on how to avoid mistakes others have made.
Social Prescribing Day is an opportunity to drive extra awareness of social prescribing and what it can do. It has been argued that 2019 was the year of social prescribing after the NHS Long Term Plan was published. It was promised that at least 900,000 people would benefit from social prescribing by 2023.
Now in 2024, social prescribing has continued to develop year after year. In 2020 the first ever annual social prescribing day was held. But you are probably wondering what that is and why it is important?
Social Prescribing Day, sometimes called International Social Prescribing Day, or National Social Prescribing Day, has helped social prescribing continue to develop and become more well-known across the UK to expand and reach out further than the healthcare sector.
Now, social prescribing is helping people of all ages and backgrounds including in the housing sector, education sector, and in some prisons.
Here at Access Elemental Social Prescribing we understand how social prescribing is branching out to different sectors and how the annual social prescribing day is helping promote social prescribing further. We want to help you to be able to accommodate the increase in demand successfully and be fully resourced for the uptake of referrals.
This article will explain the history of social prescribing and how it has developed over the last couple of years, as well as what is social prescribing day and how it can be supported to promote the hard work of all those involved in social prescribing.
The CQC Key Lines of Enquiry are used by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), who regulate all health and social care providers in England. CQC inspectors use the Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE) to guide and direct their inspections of care services. Established and new care providers alike will probably know something about the Key Lines of Enquiry, but few too many understand how the Key Lines of Enquiry fit within the CQC's approach and how they are used during inspections.
Mental health social prescribing is important because statistically 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England, and these people suffering with different mental health conditions continue to be a significant public health issue for NHS England.
Demand for mental health services is increasing, and the number of medicines being dispensed for various mental health conditions has doubled in the past 10 years, but mental health trusts have been experiencing continuous budget cuts which means waiting times are longer and people are suffering.
Social prescribing offers a solution to manage mental health by taking a holistic approach to wellbeing and to address the wider determinants of health. This means providing care in more ways than just trips to the GP surgery or outpatients at the local hospital.
In this guide we will explore mental health in the UK, and the involvement of both primary care and secondary care, before expanding on social prescribing and the ways it can improve people’s mental health and reduce pressure on the NHS – two huge benefits that must be pursued.
Home care software prices can be difficult to come by, or clearly make sense of, as I'm sure you've probably realised if you’ve been looking for home care software for your care service.
Home care software pricing information is sometimes impossible for you to find on suppliers' websites. Then there are different pricing models used by different suppliers, and some seemingly similar systems being priced at very different rates, making it really difficult for you to make an informed comparison.
Cyber risk will continue to be a major risk for all law firms in 2020 due to the sensitive nature of the information they hold, and the substantial amounts of client money held by over 7,000 of them.
- Topic:
- Legal
The value of a law firm’s data should never be underestimated, and so it is important to find an experienced software supplier you and your partners can completely trust if you are considering switching from one legal case and practice management system to another and need to convert your law firm’s data.
In terms of a law firm’s assets, consideration for your data is as important as your people, their expertise and their time. Decision makers understandably can be wary about investing and switching to alternative legal software because of the prospect of migrating all of their precious data. Unfortunately some technology providers have made it difficult for firms to retrieve their data, compounding the concern over switching to a new provider.
- Topic:
- Legal
Law firms are entrusted with vast amounts of sensitive information, such as bank accounts and personal details, and have a responsibility to protect it. With cybercrime on the rise and the potential for identity theft increasing, firms need to implement effective measures to safeguard their data and their client's data. Biometric identity checking is an innovative solution that many law firms are turning to as a reliable method of identity verification. Furthermore, it offers a convenience benefit that meets the needs of today's client who expects seamless digital experiences from their service providers.
In this blog post, we'll explore how biometric identity verification works, its benefits and drawbacks, and why it should be considered by law firms.
- Topic:
- Legal
Since January 2022, there has been a hive of merger and acquisition activity in the legal sector. The SRA states that between June 2022 and May 2023, 404 law firms opened their doors, and between April 2022 and March 2023, 579 firms had closed. This flurry of activity demonstrates the intensity of M&A in the legal market, as firms have merged, divested, and changed status. Some firms, a surprising 54%, have closed their doors and a leading factor is likely market forces and the challenges with ensuring profitability in a modern legal practice.
This trend is only likely to continue as the economic uncertainty and high inflation rates persist. Economic factors may lead more law firms to consider mergers, resizing, or restructuring, as costs and profitability are top of mind for law firm leaders.
- Topic:
- Legal
