Health and Social Care Act 2008
What It Means To You
 
HCPA as an organisation is committed to supporting their members through the re-registration process and to that end have consulted with CQC and developed the following guidance.
 
Essential Reading
To ensure you fully understand the 28 Regulations and the Outcomes that CQC will now be using as standards, there are some CQC publications that you will need to have for reference.
 
The two most important publications are:
 
Essential Standards of Quality and Safety.
This explains the 28 regulations and outcomes against which CQC will be judging compliance. It provides prompts that providers may wish to consider using to help them achieve compliance.

Judgement Framework.
This document is the tool that Inspectors will use to judge compliance with the regulations. It also provides case studies demonstrating compliance.
 
These two publications can either be ordered as hard copy or downloaded from the CQC website. Please be aware these are lengthy documents, you may find the option to select and download the appropriate sections from “Essential Standards of Quality and Safety” depending on the service you are registering of specific use.
 
We have also identified additional documents that you may find useful, and these are also available as downloads:
• A New System of Registration
• What Is a Location?
• How to Register?
• How to Complete the Transitional Period
• What Is Outcome Evidence
• The Scope of Registration
• Quality and Risk Profiles
• How Existing Registered Managers Become Registered under the Health and Social care Act 2008
• Setting the Bar
• The Sixteen Directly Related Essential Standards
 
The Process
Between April and September all existing registered providers of social care are being invited to apply for registration under the new legislation that becomes effective on 1 October. There will be no passported transfer to the new registration system. Star ratings will be retained in some form but CQC have yet to say exactly how. Equally, categories are dropped from the registrations agreed under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (H&SC Act 2008)
CQC have begun the process and are inviting applications to register in batches. This is a massive undertaking as there are 24000 services altogether in England to be registered. 0 or 1 Star Rated services will receive a visit from CQC in the coming months.
 
Once invited to apply, a provider will have a 28 day window to submit an application (CQC will notify providers of the end date for submission and we understand this is non negotiable). There is an option to complete this online (in a similar fashion to self assessment tax returns).
 
The responsibility for completing the form rests with the nominated person but they can delegate completion of sections relating to specific services to the Registered Manager for that service. Below you will find a link to the CQC Guidance (about 15 pages) that can be downloaded to help providers complete the form. There is also an online training module to support this.
 
Generally, however, CQC have stated:
“When making your application to register you will be required to provide the following information:
• Your details as a provider
• The regulated activities you provide or intend to provide from 1 October 2010
• The location(s) where the activities are provided or provided from
• A declaration about whether you comply, and will continue to comply, with the requirements of the regulations from 1 Oct 2010
• If you do not comply you will need to supply an action plan stating how, and by when, you will comply with the regulations
If you are a partnership or an organisation, the application must be submitted on behalf of the partnership or organisation, and the person(s) submitting the application must have read and understood the content of the application.”
 
Start preparing for registration as soon as possible. The application will be a declaration of your compliance, or not, with the new Regulations. CQC have said that declarations should be an honest reflection of a provider’s own view of their compliance.
 
If a provider is not able to say they are compliant in any area, they should say so explaining the steps they are taking to achieve compliance and, ideally, by when they expect to comply.
If CQC ask for evidence of how a provider is moving towards full compliance it will be looking for a SMART action plan to be in place.
 
If you are in any doubt at all about your compliance, you should declare “Non Compliance” and submit a SMART action plan
That means the plan must be,
• Specific about the issue being addressed,
• Measureable in that it says how the provider will achieve compliance,
• Achievable in that the measures are realistic and attainable,
• Relevant in that the resources are available to achieve the measures specified, and
• Time bound in that there is a set date by which time compliance will be achieved.
 
Quality and Risk Profiles
CQC are developing a Quality and Risk Profile for every provider. This will be used to assess where risks lie and prompt them to take front line regulatory activity such as an inspection. This will be sent to providers at the start of registration (See note in the pointers section) and the information will also be held on-line and will be accessible to the public and providers. Information held on the profile will be gathered from a range of sources including that received from Commissioners, service users, their families and carers and other relevant agencies. Providers will also be able to submit information too.
 
In Summary:
The process comprises Invited applications being checked by CQC to make sure they contain all the required information.
They will be validated against CQC and other information held on the quality and risk profile. Any further required information will be identified at this stage.
 
Providers will be notified of the CQC decision along with their rights of appeal. A registration certificate will be issued that will also specify any conditions of registration (e.g. limits to services provided).
CQC will create a new public register of service providers registered with it.
 
Therefore, providers should make sure they are fully conversant with the new requirements and remember:
A provider that cannot fully comply with the new legislation as of 1 October should not assume that CQC will agree conditions on their registration that will enable compliance over a specified time frame beyond 1 October. CQC will make its judgement based on a number of factors and decide whether to grant registration as of 1 October.
CQC say that failure to achieve registration will mean closure and in such cases appeal arrangements will be in place.
 
Meanwhile:
It is important to remember that all providers must continue to fully comply with the present Regulations and Guidance. Reviews under the current CSA 2000 are continuing to be undertaken over the coming months. Depending on the history of compliance and star rating, this may not include an inspection visit. However, 0 and 1 star providers should expect an unannounced inspection and the results of these inspections will inform the registration process for such providers.
The CSA 2000 and NMS remain live for compliance purposes until 30 September so providers must continue to comply with the current law as well as demonstrate that they can comply or achieve compliance under the new legislation as of 1 October.

CQC Page on Registration
 
Essential Documents - Guidance on Compliance:
"Essential Standards of Quality and Safety" - The regulatory and outcome framework
 
Judgement Framework - The guide for Inspectors on how to assess evidence of compliance
 
A guide to registration
 
 HCPA has made the above information available in good faith but it cannot be held responsible for any changes to the process or information it has provided. Nevertheless, HCPA remains committed to maintaining the flow of information to Hertfordshire Providers until the re-registration process is complete on 1 October 2010.
Providers should remember that the primary guide for this process is the CQC and should direct specific queries to them. It is also recommended that providers read the “Frequently Asked Questions” as these are being updated regularly.