The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator in England for health and social care. As an independent body, the CQC checks healthcare organisations to see if they meet the mandatory care standards.
Besides detailed descriptions on how hospitals, GPs and more should comply to safety standards, the CQC has also outlined 13 fundamental care standards. They are:
| Person-centred care | Complaints |
| Dignity and respect | Good governance |
| Consent | Staffing |
| Safety | Fit and proper staff |
| Safeguarding from abuse | Duty of candour |
| Food and drink | Display of ratings |
| Premises and equipment |
1. Person-centred care
Care or treatment must be tailored to the individual and must meet the individual’s needs or preferences.
This fundamental care standard we can clearly see highlighted in the NHS Personalised Care plan and the Five Year Forward View. Within the latter sits the social prescribing service. What matters to the person stands at the heart of the care delivered by social prescribing link workers.
Even more, NHS England has made it a point to stimulate person-centred care by, amongst other things, involve people in their own care. This level of patient participation has seen growing support and evidence. Part of NHS England’s strategy is offering the right conditions so person-centred care is enabled both from the NHS as well as the individuals themselves.
2. Dignity and respect
An individual must always be treated with dignity and respect when receiving care and treatment. The CQC lists three main items care providers need to take into account (though this is not an exhaustive list):
- Everyone is treated as equals
- A person can have privacy when they need and want it
- An individual is provided with support they need to help retain independence and involved with their local community
This care standard has seen positive results, following a 2019 survey conducted by the CQC. The survey looked at 75,000 adult inpatient individuals who had been discharged from hospital in 2019. Amongst the findings was an increased improvement in being treated respectfully and in a dignified manner in England.
3. Consent
Consent must be provided before any care or treatment is given. This must be done by either the individual who is given treatment or anybody who is legally acting on the behalf of that person. Consent must be voluntary and must not be influenced by medical practitioners, family or friends.
Secondly, consent must be informed, meaning that a person must receive all of the information about what a treatment involves, both the benefits and the risks.
Finally, the person receiving treatment must have the capacity to understand the information health professionals give and use it for informed decision-making.
Consent spans the wide range of offered healthcare interventions, such as medical prescriptions by a GP to an operation at a hospital.
There are certain exceptions to the above, for instance in the case of emergency treatment to save a person’s life. You can read on these and more on the NHS website.
4. Safety
An individual must not be given unsafe care, unsafe treatment or be put at risk of harm, which could be prevented.
Providers of healthcare services must evaluate the risks to individuals’ health and safety during any care or treatment. In addition, they must ensure their staff have the right qualifications, skills, competence and experience to keep a person safe.
5. Safeguarding from abuse
People must not suffer any form of improper treatment or abuse when receiving care, including:
- Degrading treatment
- Neglect
- Inappropriate limits on a person’s freedom
- Unnecessary or disproportionate restraint
NHS England has made it a point to address two specific groups that in particular need protection:
- Children and young people,
- and adults at risk due to for instance learning disabilities or physical impairments.
6. Food and drink
While receiving care and treatment, a person must have enough to eat and drink to keep that individual in good health.
As part of this standard of care, food and drink of an individual must meet nutritional needs and people’s preferences as well as religious and cultural backgrounds must be taken into account. Examples are:
- A patient who is on a halal diet
- A patient who is on a kosher diet
- A patient who is on a vegetarian diet