The problems caused by ever-changing rules during the Covid pandemic have quieted. There is now a sense that changes in regulation and legislation could see resources diverted towards social care.
The care cap
The care cap proposed in the Dilnot Report has now been postponed. However, the impact of the care cap and assets thresholds on the provision of social care is not universally seen as a good thing. In our survey, 55% think it will bring in fairer charges between those who self-fund and those who are funded, and 33% say it sounds like good news for people who won’t have to sell their home to pay for care, but it won’t address the funding problems within the industry. However, a worrying 41% think many social care providers will go out of business, and 25% say if there is less money from self-funders, the minimum wage will become the standard wage across the country, exacerbating the workforce recruitment and retention problem.
55%
of respondents In our survey think the care cap will bring in fairer charges between those who self-fund and those who are funded
The CQC
In our survey, we asked senior decision-makers and high-level executives for their views on the role of the CQC. Views were broadly equally split between those believing the CQC should continue with the same focus on regulation and inspection (53%) and those believing the role of the CQC should change (26%) or that its inspection role needs to be combined with supporting the turnaround of the social care sector (22%).
The CQC’s 2021 strategy sets out how it is changing the way it works. Joanna Scott is pleased to see that the CQC will be regulating local authorities.
What is your view on the role of the CQC?
Jonathan Freeman believes the CQC should be supporting the sector. “If a new provider takes over a failing service with the intention of improving it, the CQC shouldn’t just come in within six months and say ‘you haven’t turned it round, we’re going to close it or we’re going to say significant improvement is required’. They should be working with those new providers who want to make a good service and hold their hand on that journey.”
Trevor Torrington says on the whole, his organisation has a positive relationship with the regulators, but issues can occur: “They are pretty realistic and pretty supportive, but you do get those who come in, and they’re just not interested in the challenges, and they don’t want to work with you. So there are times where they come up with something that makes no sense, and then you generally win it on appeal. But why do you have to go through that process anyway?”
Impact of regulation
Jane Townson says her members “get concerned about regulation … because there’s an awful lot of things happening. We’ve got mandatory statutory data submissions being required, and the regulator moving towards more data-driven assessments. HMRC is getting back in the saddle and is going to be ramping up their inspection activity.”
Charlotte Rowe says “The new regulations coming into force for Adult Social Care could mean service providers being instantly downgraded in their CQC report, which could have a detrimental effect on their ability to secure adequate insurance and could worry current or potential service users. Mitigating risk is part of the package we provide for our customers”.