Quality Care Commission GOOD – What does that mean?

Posted: 9 March 2020

We’re often asked “What does it mean when you get a ‘GOOD’ from the CQC?

The thing is, it’s a bit like being damned with faint praise… you know, the first reaction you often get is that people want to know why you aren’t ‘Outstanding’ – after all, we think we’re outstanding so why doesn’t the CQC? The simple truth is that there are several categories of CQC evaluation, and each of those has a further qualification There are five areas of assessment and up to two of them can be classed as ‘needing improvement’ before you get knocked down to the next level. In the care industry ‘outstanding’ is very hard to get, as generally it means that you’ve done something innovative with your care practice. As a care company we do, of course, aspire to that, but our first and foremost commitment is to making sure that our customers get a great standard of care.

So let’s just dissect that ‘good’ rating. You can see the full report here on our web site and if you’re interested we’d certainly encourage you to have a look. It’s a bit technical (in that it uses lots of care-related jargon) but it all boils down to “Are you doing your job?” and the ‘good’ certification means a resounding YES from the CQC. We did have a ‘needs improvement’ in one area which was to do with one specific piece of paperwork (that was rectified as soon as it was pointed out, and came from a simple misunderstanding of a reporting procedure) but those rules & regs are what the CQC is all about.

Lots of people know that the CQC is responsible for regulating every aspect of organisations that give care, from the biggest NHS hospital right down to the lowliest (but fabulous) ‘mom & pop’ small care company.  Unfortunately the essential rules that govern all of that are complicated and take a lot of following. We have to register the people who run the company, to make sure that they are financially responsible and are of good reputation, with the right levels of qualification where necessary. There are a raft of policies and regulations to observe, act on and keep up to date. There are contracts for staff and customers that have to contain certain terms and clauses, providing for the rules that govern how a company like ours operates. There is filing, data protection, HR considerations, financial probity, case history write-up from first contact through to notification of death and SO much more. A company much bigger than ours would probably have someone whose full time job is to ensure CQC compliance. It’s a lot to take in.

“GOOD” means exactly that. We’re doing our job, doing it well and you can have a degree of confidence in us. We’re working towards “OUTSTANDING” at our next inspection but, for a company that’s only just finished it’s third year of trading, we were chuffed to bits to get ‘GOOD’, because until CQC come to do that first inspection you have no idea if you’re doing it right!