PRESS RELEASE: CECOPS obtains official support from Care Quality Commission

CECOPS obtains official support from Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has given its official support to CECOPS’ Code of Practice for Community Equipment. In fact CQC will be looking for evidence of compliance with the Code in relation to their Essential Standards of quality and safety, where equipment is concerned. This will mean that organisations currently inspected by CQC e.g. health and social care organisations, care homes, home care providers, hospices, will need to evidence their compliance with the CECOPS’ Code of Practice.

Dame Jo Williams DBE, Chair, Care Quality Commission, says:

“As Chairman of the Care Quality Commission I welcome the Code of Practice for Community Equipment and the work of the Community Equipment Code of Practice Scheme (CECOPS).”

Incredibly, until now there have been no standards specifically covering a service area that supplies over 12 million pieces of vital disability equipment to 4 million people every year in the UK, via the public sector alone. The CECOPS Code of Practice is vital in filling this gap, as it provides a framework for delivering these services safely and effectively. CQC has recognised the role the Code of Practice Scheme has in this respect.

“Schemes such as CECOPs are good examples of the types of guidance and frameworks which can assist care providers in demonstrating their compliance with Essential Standards.” Care Quality Commission

CECOPS Chairman, Sir Bert Massie CBE, says:

“We are delighted the Care Quality Commission recognises the merits of CECOPS and the value it brings to people’s lives and to the organisations providing services to them. We are also encouraged to know that CQC will be looking for adherence to the Code of Practice to assist them in making their judgements about the compliance of service providers against their Essential Standards. In this respect we look forward to working in partnership with CQC.”

The Code aims to support public, private and third sector organisations to help them commission and provide services more effectively, and to assist them in meeting their legal and welfare obligations.

The CECOPS Code of Practice is a voluntary scheme and does not introduce any further regulation. As well as supporting CQC’s Essential Standards, the Code encompasses the many other existing legal, welfare and regulatory requirements which cover these services – for example the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People, Medical Device Regulations, Health & Safety legislation – bringing these diverse requirements into one place.

CECOPS are working to link their Code Standards to the relevant Outcomes as set out within CQC’s Essential Standards. This will enable CQC to see at a glance that compliance with certain Outcomes is being met.

The following list summarises the main reasons why organisations should adopt the Code:

• Results in better clinical and financial outcomes
• Emphasises the involvement of service users
• Enables safer and better quality services to be delivered
• Reduces likelihood of civil and criminal litigation
• Aligns with NHS and LA changes and strategies
• Enables care services to work together and to integrate commissioning and provision
• Provides a tool for benchmarking performance
• Ensures Social Model of Disability and ‘whole-life’ needs are considered
• One stop approach to regulatory requirements
• Provides clinical and technical staff with the knowledge and skills required to do their job effectively, where equipment is concerned
• Offers practical guidance for what is often a complex and fragmented service

There are no limitations on who can register with the Code of Practice Scheme; registrants will commonly include Local Authorities and NHS commissioners, including clinical commissioning groups, joint equipment stores (in-house and outsourced), continuing healthcare providers, retailers, clinical professional teams e.g. nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, medical engineers, special schools, third sector and private sector e.g. care homes, hospices, domiciliary care providers, pharmacies.

The Code of Practice Scheme is complemented by the recent appointment of its independent assessors DNV Healthcare (global leaders in quality, safety and risk management), who will carry out assessments for those organisations opting for Accreditation under the Scheme. DNV Healthcare currently provides assessments for all hospitals in England on behalf of the NHS Litigation Authority, as well as working with Macmillan Cancer Support to assess the Macmillan Quality Environment Mark for cancer care centres throughout the UK.

CECOPS also oversees Approved Training as part of the Scheme. Approved Training is available to cover all aspects of the Code.

 

-Ends-

 

Media contacts

For images, interviews with spokespeople or more information please contact:

Louise Jackson

CECOPS CIC

01494 863398

Louise@cecops.org.uk

 

Notes to editors

About CECOPS:

The Community Equipment Code of Practice Scheme, known as CECOPS, is a not for profit community interest company which has been set up to manage registration, training and accreditation of users of the Code of Practice for community equipment.

The Code of Practice is a recently written handbook. It is essentially a quality framework for the procurement and provision of services. It is primarily aimed at services in England, but also applies to other parts of the UK, and beyond.

CECOPS’ objectives are to assist all public and private sector providers and commissioners in bringing a high quality service to disabled children and adults, including elderly people, by promoting, encouraging adoption of, and providing training on, the Code of Practice for Community Equipment.

In terms of how the Scheme works: organisations, either commissioners or providers (including clinical teams), can register as working to the Code of Practice, as a Full or Associate Registrant, depending on their level of involvement with community equipment. Organisations can self-regulate/monitor their own compliance with the Code either manually or with CECOPS recommended software.

In addition, for reasons of credibility ‘Accreditation’ can be sought. Accreditation is optional, and involves external assessment of a registered user’s compliance with the Code of Practice.

About Community Equipment

Examples of equipment types:

• •       home nursing, e.g. pressure relieving mattresses, ventilators
• •       aids for daily living, e.g. shower chairs, kettle tippers
• •       children’s equipment, e.g. postural support chairs
• •       sensory impairment equipment, e.g. flashing doorbells
• •       minor adaptations, e.g. ramps, grab rails
• •       wheelchairs (short term)
• •       communication aids
• •       telecare, e.g. environmental aids.

About Care Quality Commission

CQC is the independent regulator of all health and social care services in England.

CQC’s job is to make sure that care provided by hospitals, dentists, ambulances, care homes and services in people’s own homes and elsewhere meets government standards of quality and safety.

The Essential Standards of quality and safety are central to CQC’s work in regulating health and adult social care. Each of the standards has an associated outcome that CQC expect all people who use services to experience as a result of the care they receive.

The standards relate to the 28 regulations contained in the legislation governing their work. When CQC check providers’ compliance with the essential standards, they focus on one or more of the 16 that most directly relate to the quality and safety of care. Providers must have evidence that they meet these outcomes.