Care Auditing Solution

I'm writing to you to find out about your care auditing solution (if you have one). What I'd like to know is:

1) Do you procure a system to audit your care homes in between CQC inspections?

2) If not, what is the process of auditing care homes?

3) If you do, who provides the system?

4) When did your contract start with this supplier?

5) When does your contract end with this supplier?

6) Is there any extensions available on the contract?

7) What is the annual cost of the contract?

8) Who is the person responsible for these audits?

1. No

2. All of the activity to monitor the delivery of care for commissioned services is carried out by Commercial Team – People Services. All monitoring is underpinned by a contract management framework that is applied to each contracted service. Whilst specifics differ based on the nature of the services delivered they have core elements:

•            Regular visits are undertaken to visit care delivery locations by contract officers, in accordance with minimum visit schedules. Discussion points include, but are not limited to:

o            Staffing – safe numbers, qualifications etc

o            Safety and due diligence – fire safety records, maintenance of building and utilities, medication protocols, incident and compliant handling etc

o            Administrative - financial viability, contract compliance and performance

•            Data is captured and analysed to provide assurance of care quality and contract performance, separately from the above including, but not limited to:

o            CQC ratings, alerts

o            Provider submitted data – bed vacancies, staff vacancies etc

o            Internal processes – contract defaults, suspensions, improvement plans, visits etc

•            The two data streams are combined and applied to a risk methodology to prioritise areas for focus, with weekly team governance to discuss any specific areas identified, presenting the overall picture monthly to heads of service such as Adult Care and Community Wellbeing

3. Not Applicable

4. Not Applicable

5. Not Applicable

6. Not Applicable

7. Not Applicable

8. The person responsible for ensuring these audits are completed according to national and local requirements is the Senior Strategic Contract Manager in Commercial Team - People Services.