The Care Quality Commission is asking people for their views on proposed plans for inspecting and rating substance misuse services
Specialist substance misuse services for people who misuse alcohol and drugs offer treatment in inpatient, community and residential settings.
CQC has been developing a new approach to the way it inspects these services. At the heart of the new approach is a commitment to tailor inspections to the issues that matter to people using substance misuse services.
As part of the new approach, CQC proposes to make greater use of people’s views and care experiences; and ensure that the areas of care and treatment looked at will include people who are in vulnerable circumstances or from specific and ‘seldom heard’ population groups, such as people with complex needs.
CQC’s proposed approach also involves using clinical and other experts, such as inspectors with further training in substance misuse treatment services and people with experience of receiving care (Experts by Experience), as part of inspection teams. Inspections will also examine transitions between services.
Commenting the proposals CQC's Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards, said: ‘This consultation sets out a step change in the way that substance and drug and alcohol treatment centres have been inspected, looking at whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led.
‘We are proposing to take a more tailored approach to this complex sector and look at the issues that matter to it. We will use inspectors with further training about substance misuse services in our inspection teams and we want to make sure we ask people who are receiving care about their treatment.
‘In our handbook, we also propose to look at the treatment of people who may be in especially vulnerable circumstances or who are from specific population groups, to make sure they are getting the quality care that they deserve.’
CQC’s new approach to inspecting these services will start from April 2015. Initially, standalone independent substance misuse services will be inspected and rated. CQC will continue to test the feasibility and scope of inspecting and separately rating substance misuse services offered by other providers, for example NHS mental health and acute trusts and GP practices, throughout 2015 with a view to rolling this out once the current inspection cycle for these providers ends.
The consultation can be found here
For media enquiries, contact CQC’s press office on 020 7448 9401, during office hours, or, out of hours, on 07789 876508. For general enquiries, call 03000 61 61 61.
Have your say
Have your say on the ways we regulate, inspect and rate specialist substance misuse services in England.
Click here for the specialist substance misuse services consultation.
This consultation sets out a step change in the way that substance and drug and alcohol treatment centres have been inspected, looking at whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals