The Care Quality Commission

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The Care Quality Commission (https://www.cqc.org.uk) are a statutory, wholly independent, body whose role it is to regulate health services (with some exceptions) and to drive up quality and improvement. Anyone providing, what is known as “regulated” activity has to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England. Wales has it’s own regulator: https://www.careinspectorate.wales as does Scotland https://www.careinspectorate.com

As most services are in England, let’s examine the role of the CQC. Before a center opens, registration needs to be gained with the CQC. There are multiple processes that need to be followed. One of the most important is the appointment of a registered manager. This person, aside from having to have enhanced DBS, also needs to prove that they are a fit and proper person to run a service. They also become liable, under statute, if things go wrong(https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/disclosure-and-barring-service) There are differing regulated activities. In short, if you are going to a rehab center where you will be given medication for “detox” and/or group therapy to assist you in addressing your dependency: The center needs to be registered. There are some gray areas, and, previously, some centers have tried to avoid registration by claiming that they are simply providing the patient’s own medication for “detox.” Avoid such places: They are illegal.

It is essential that anyone looking to be admitted to a rehab centre checks, for themselves, that the centre is registered, and what it is registered for. While a website, for a centre has the CQC logo on it and, in the body of the text of the website, they claim to be registered with the CQC, this may not be the case. The CQC will (and indeed, have) prosecuted centre’s that operate without registration. The CQC inspects centre’s and publishes the results online. When a centre receives a report, they have 21 days to publish this report on their website: This is a legal requirement. However, there is no legal requirement to have a website. Don’t panic if there is no inspection report.

If you need 24 hour addiction advice call and speak to a clinician at Find me a rehab. We provide a totally free rehab referral service.

A centre that has recently opened won’t have one. They are inspected after a period and, getting registered, means they would pass an inspection. The CQC provides a grading of either: Outstanding (green star) Good (green circle) Requires improvement (yellow circle) Inadequate (red) They assess services under the following banners: Is the service safe? Effective? Caring? Responsive? Well led? An overall rating is then given, as per above. Thus, a center could have one area as inadequate, but overall: requires improvement. Or good in three areas, outstanding in one and be good, overall. Should it be required, the CQC can place a center in special measures and use their powers to enforce change. Where necessary, the CQC can suspend registration and prosecute. The simple rule is: Check the center with the CQC website or helpline: yourself.

There is free 24 hour addiction advice available at find me a rehab. Call and speak to an experienced addictions clinician for a totally free rehab referral service.

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