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Care regulator to stop inspections during coronavirus outbreak
England’s care regulator has announced that it will end routine inspections immediately while the coronavirus pandemic continues.
In a letter sent today, Ian Trenholm, chief executive of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), told providers that physical inspections of care homes will be halted.
He said: “Inspections will not be conducted in their present form during the period of the pandemic.
“When physical inspections are deemed appropriate, we anticipate having a conversation with the provider before a visit takes place.”
The update comes after the CQC previously said it would take a “pragmatic and flexible approach” to how and when it regulates.
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The CQC said that it may be necessary to use some if its inspection powers in a “very small number of cases” in which there is concern over allegations of abuse.
In the letter, the body also urged providers to alert the regulator within 24 hours if they detect an outbreak of COVID-19.
“This means one or more cases involving staff, people who use services, volunteers, visiting professionals, visitors or visiting contractors/suppliers that people within the service have had contact with,” it added.
Several care home providers have taken action to ban non-essential visitors to protect against the further spread to vulnerable older people.
England’s Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has said it will account for the impact of coronavirus on housing associations when making compliance judgements.
Inside Housing has asked the RSH and the Scottish Housing Regulator if their inspections will continue as normal.
