Regulation 19: Stop putting your patients in danger.

Tragically a baby passed away at East Kent NHS Trust in July 2021. The Trust was fined £733,000 by the CQC for failing to provide safe care and treatment of a mother and her baby. 

It was avoidable.

One key aspect that led to the horrific ordeal was an inexperienced doctor carrying out the delivery, followed by delays in resuscitation.

Patient safety should NEVER be compromised. 

Especially by ineffective and inefficient processes. 

If anything were to highlight the importance of robust pre-employment checks. 

It's this. 

This is why Regulation 19 was introduced. 

To ensure fit and proper persons are employed to do the job. 

CQC inspection requires information to “be kept about all persons employed in the provision of services.”

On the face of it this sounds simple enough, but often this can be a difficult and lengthy process for healthcare providers to evidence, especially around compliance. 

According to CQC guidance and CQC requirements for providers, to meet this legal requirement, healthcare providers must: 

“Operate robust recruitment procedures, including undertaking any relevant checks, and have a procedure for ongoing monitoring of staff to make sure they remain able to meet the requirements. Providers must also have appropriate processes in place to deal with staff who are no longer fit to carry out the duties required of them.”

What does this mean?

It’s important to provide evidence to CQC inspectors with a full audit trail of employee compliance. 

Check out The Ultimate CQC Checklist for 2022 to learn more.

It's all about the checks – references, DBS, professional registrations, and certifications need to be completed and monitored on a regular basis to ensure employees are compliant. 

A simple way to ensure that fit and proper persons are employed is to automate the compliance, credentialing, and re-credentialing processes which will help you meet CQC standards for 2021 and beyond. 

CQC Inspection Outcomes

Ultimately if an employee has been struck off, has warnings or is unfit to practice then the CQC can prosecute you for a breach in regulation.

Care Quality Commission Standards 

In addition to the five key lines of enquiry (KLOEs) followed during CQC inspections, the CQC has a set of fundamental standards that care should never fall below, including: 

CQC inspections in 2020 and 2021 saw a move to a digital approach which has shaped how the commission has and will carry out inspections. This is why automating and moving the process online will make the whole system easier to manage. 

“At the beginning of the year around 30% of clinicians were compliant, now its over 90%.”

Karen Sloan, HR administrator & Facilities Coordinator, Medicspot