CommunityCare.co.uk report positively on the merits of the Community Equipment Code of Practice

Community Care, the respected journal for social care, has reported positively on the merits of the Code of Practice for Community Equipment.

Mithran Samuel, adults’ editor, writes:

If you haven’t already done so, it’s worth anyone working with disabled people checking out the new(ish) code of practice for providers of community equipment.

Despite an estimated four million people receiving 12 million pieces of equipment each year, and safety and quality issues being so important for service users, there is no system of regulation for community equipment. The code of practice is designed to fill this gap.

Equipment providers or commissioners are invited to become registered users of the code, which means that they self-monitor their performance against it, or accredited users, which means their standards are independently verified.

The organisation behind the code is the Community Equipment Code of Practice Community Interest Company. Registered or accredited users will get to carry an appropriate kitemark. Users will also gain access to training for their staff.

It sounds a good scheme, though there is obviously a cost attached for both registration and accreditation. The argument for providers is that it should show commissioners, users and others that you are worth buying equipment from. It will be interesting to see how well it takes off.

See the news item here