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Edition No. 17 April 2002

Introduction

After a two year gestation period the birth of the National Care Standards Commission on 1 April 2002 resulted in it being instantly moved into the intensive care unit !

This Care Standards Update addresses a number of unrelated matters which all impact upon the National Care Standards Commission. You may wish to keep this Care Standards Update to hand for further reference.

1. New Website

The National Care Standards Commission now has its own website at www.carestandards.gov.uk. It is bound to be a channel of information from the National Care Standards Commission and members who enjoy 'surfing the net' should add this to their list of favourites.

All of the information in this Care Standards Update has been taken from that website.

2. Logistical Problems

Since the launch on 1 April 2002 the NCSC has taken between 500 and 1500 calls a day. The helpline team deals with many different kinds of enquiries and clearly, some take much longer to handle than others. This may mean that some providers have faced difficulty getting through.

All service providers should now also be able to contact their local NCSC office. You should by now have been advised of your local area office.

3. Registration Certificates

In the last few months the registration of over 28,000 services has been transferred from local and health authorities to the NCSC. This has been an enormous task and the NCSC are now in the process of checking that registration details are correct, following which they will begin the task of printing and issuing registration certificates to all providers. This process is expected to take 6 to 8 weeks.

4. Applications for Registration

1) Submission of Additional Documentation

The Commission has been receiving documentation from applicants separately from the NCSC Application for Registration Forms. They are asking that you do not send any documentation separately from the main application forms - it is very difficult to keep track of documentation submitted in this way. Please keep all additional documents until the local NCSC area office contacts you to pursue your application further.

2) Part Processed Applications

The NCSC has received around 600 applications for registration that were not completed by local authorities and health authorities (who were responsible for all registration up until 30 March 2002.

All part processed applications will now be dealt with by the Commission under the Care Standards Act. To avoid applicants having to duplicate their original details they are now transferring information from the original application forms onto the new NCSC Application for Registration Forms.

Under the new legislation, additional information will however be required. NCSC will therefore be returning the new forms to you by 8 May 2002. You will be required to complete and return these forms to your local NCSC area office.

3) Existing Providers

The NCSC has received almost 11,000 new applications for registration - including a considerable number of applications from managers who are required to register under the new legislation.

They will be dealing with all such applications over the coming weeks. This will not affect your ability to continue providing your service as you have done in the past. Under the Care Standards Act 2000 you are entitled to continue providing your service, as long as you have submitted the relevant application for registration forms to the Commission.

4) Previously Registered Services

The NCSC have received a number of enquiries from care homes that were registered under the previous legislation but are now in the process of being re-registered by a new owner. Registration documentation for these homes will have been transferred to the Commission as part of the transfer of data from local and health authorities.

Given the size of the task the NCSC are dealing with, you will understand that some delay in handling such applications is inevitable. They are making every effort to deal with them as quickly as possible.

5) New Providers

The Commission has also received a number of enquiries from providers that have submitted an application for registration for a new service or establishment.

The Commission will be dealing with such applications as a priority. All applications will be filtered through to the relevant local NCSC area office.

5. Domiciliary Care Agencies and Nurses Agencies

Under the Care Standards Act 2000, Domiciliary Care Agencies and Nurses Agencies will both be required to register with the NCSC. Under the current legislation, applications must be submitted to the Commission by 30 June 2002.

The National Minimum Standards for both services, together with the relevant statutory regulations, are however still being finalised by the Department of Health (following the conclusion of the formal consultation period). The NCSC have not yet received a clear indication as to the likely date of publication - although we hope that this will be soon.

Due to this delay, the NCSC has not yet produced the relevant sections of the NCSC application form as these need to be based on the final regulations and National Minimum Standards for these two service areas.

Once the NCSC receive the final version of the National Minimum Standards and the statutory regulations we will produce both documents and will circulate application forms to providers as soon as possible.

6. Commission for Health Care Audit and Inspection (CHAI)

As well as the many financial issues which will affect all of us, especially the 1% increase in N.I. contributions, the Budget speech also announced new measures which will have a very real consequence to us as nursing home owners.

The detail was to be found in the speech given by Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn, the following day in the House of Commons, when he presented Delivering the NHS Plan - next steps on investment - next steps on reform.

The section which affects registration is Chapter 10, Strengthening Accountability where Alan Milburn says AWe are proposing to establish an independent, single new Commission for Healthcare Audit and inspection (CHAI) which will bring together the health value for money work of the Audit Commission, the work of the Commission for Health Improvement and the private healthcare role of the National Care Standards Commission. The new single Commission will have responsibility for inspecting both the public and private health care sectors.

So, less than a month old and not yet tried or tested, the National Care Standards Commission is to be replaced ! Anne Parker, Chair of the National Care Standards Commission, in true political style said; AThe National Care Standards Commission regulates more than 40,000 services of which approximately 2,000 are within the private and voluntary health care sector. Until the new bodies are established we will continue to regulate all of the services that fall under our remit and work with service providers to improve their quality. This is of critical importance to the millions of people that use these services.

The regulation of these services will eventually transfer to the new Commission for Health Care Audit and inspection and the Commission for Social Care Inspection. Until both organisations are fully operational, we will continue to develop excellent regulation and will implement current systems and processes with enthusiasm and commitment.

7. Service User Categories of Care

The Association is continuing to receive comments from members expressing their concern over the way in which the service user categories of care have been allocated. I have again written to Anne Parker expressing those concerns.

On Monday 15 April 2002 Deirdre Kowalski and I attended the NCSC Board Meeting in Newcastle. I took the opportunity of raising these concerns publicly with Anne Parker and all members of the Board.

Conclusion

The NCSC are beginning to appreciate the sheer volume of work they are to undertake, they are asking for providers to be patient in order to 'get their house in order'.