To scrutinise preparation for an anticipated assurance visit from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The committee considered a report on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assurance Visit Preparation. The Vice-Chairperson introduced the officers to present the council’s report.

A short presentation on the CQC Assurance visit preparation was delivered.

The principal points of the subsequent discussion are summarised below:

1. In response to a question on the type of cases that will be presented to the CQC, the Head of Service Transformation & Improvement explained that the cases presented to the CQC will include a combination of individuals receiving care and support through the local authority, as well as unpaid carers. A total of fifty individual cases are available to be put forward.

2. The Corporate Director Community Wellbeing clarified that in terms of the cases, the CQC stipulate that they want cases of older people and those with learning disabilities. Therefore, there must be a broad range across the piece and a certain number of cases must be picked from certain criteria.

3. In response to a question as to whether specific areas of assessment will be looked at by the CQC, the Head of Service Transformation & Improvement confirmed that the notice of assessment will land with the Corporate Director and will be asked to upload the range of information within the first three weeks. The next part of the process will involve a team at the CQC will look through all the information uploaded and will talk to partners, carers, and individuals and all of the discussions will help establish key lines of enquiry.

4. The Corporate Director Community Wellbeing added that apart from the four themes of the assessment framework, there are no key lines identified in the initial notice by the CQC. The information in terms of performance indicators will start to hone where they may want to focus their attention to in terms of the four areas.

5. In response to a question about cases that are less usual, the Service Director Adult Social Care & Housing noted that the CQC will be looking at people’s experiences and when they access the fifty cases, they will be able to ask questions about people’s experiences and will be in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion in the broader sense and staff experience as to communicating with people from different backgrounds and differing needs.

6. The Corporate Director of Community Wellbeing noted that some cases involve working with individuals who are less usual. The case tracker will capture the diversity of these cases and the wide range of experiences of the individuals they support.

7. In response to a question about the type of questions that may be asked, the Corporate Director of Community Wellbeing explained that officers have a good understanding of the types of questions likely to arise. Additionally, mock interviews have been conducted using a prepared set of questions to ensure readiness and confidence when talking about the work that staff have been doing.

8. In response to a question about whether the CQC speak to external providers, the Corporate Director of Community Wellbeing noted that a list  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28