CQC guidance for meeting the new "fundamental standards"

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has drafted guidance on how the health and adult social care providers and services that it regulates across England can meet the government's new regulations on care.

The new "fundamental standards" are more focused and clear about the care that people should always expect to receive. They were discussed in Parliament earlier this month and will come into effect by next April.

These standards include both the new "duty of candour" and the "fit and proper persons" requirements. These will require providers to be open and honest when things go wrong and to hold directors to account when care fails people. These two requirements will apply to NHS trusts from October.

CQC has issued its draft guidance on how providers can meet the eleven fundamental standards as part of a public consultation.

Image: Michael Cote, Flickr

Source: www.cqc.org.uk

Things to be aware of BEFORE you publish your assessment on the IGT website

Before you publish your assessment on the Information Governance Toolkit website, there are few things you should be aware of...

Can my assessment be un-published?

A published IG Toolkit assessment represents evidence of the organisation's attainment against the IG requirements at a particular point in time. This evidence must be retained for audit purposes and cannot be overwritten by un-publishing and adjusting scores. You can, however, contact the IGT help services if a mistake has been made. 

There is no save option once I have published my assessment, can adjustments be made?

IG Toolkit scores can only be adjusted if the assessment has not been published. Once you have published the assessment the facility to save new scores disappears from the screen. You must ensure you are happy with your organisation's level of compliance with the IG requirements, before you click the "Publish" button.

What happens to the assessment when it is published?

On publication the assessment goes into the public domain, which means that anyone with an Internet connection can view the assessment via the "Reports" menu.

When an IG Toolkit assessment has been published can anyone see the comments entered in the text boxes?

No. Although on publication the assessment goes into the public domain, it is only the scores that can be seen, not the comments. The comments of a particular organisation can only be seen by the authorised users of that organisation or by the central team at DH.

The most important thing to remember is that you cannot make changes once your assessment has been published, so make sure you are happy with it before you push the important button!

The July edition of the Words Worth Reading Ltd newsletter is now available to download

The July edition of the Words Worth Reading Ltd newsletter is now available to download.

This month in the Words Worth Reading Ltd office we have launched this year’s remote external auditing service to help clients demonstrate in-year evidence for the Information Governance standards. We have also been busy working with volunteers to complete our work experience programme.  The programme is in its second year and continues to be very popular.

To get the latest news about business, healthcare, writing, student life, and to find out what the Words Worth Reading Ltd team have been up to, download this month's newsletter from our website by clicking here.

Bournemouth University Launches its own Publishing House

Bournemouth University has set up its own publishing house to help the students of its Media School to get published.

The publishing house, named Fresher Publishing, is run by senior lecturer Emma Scattergood. Its first publication Fresh, is a collection of short stories written by the students.


Find out more about Fresher Publishing by clicking here.

Image: Velk0, Flickr

BBC Radio 4 Commissions an Independent Production of Stories

Sweet Talk is a production company which has been commissioned by Radio 4 to produce 3 short stories which will be transmitted in January 2015.

The production company, specialising in readings, drama and short-form work are asking new authors to submit their unpublished work.

Stories should be between 2,000 an 2,200 words and writers should be aware that each story will be read by a single voice. Sweet Talk are looking for stories that are unpublished and have not been performed or broadcast before. The stories chosen will be used for The Time Being on Radio 4.

Writers should submit their stories by email, including a title page with full contact details and a word count.

The closing date for submissions is 18th July.
Email: jeremyosborne@mac.com

Image: Joao Paulo Correa, Flickr

Children's Book Week: 30th June - 4th July

This year, Children's Book Week takes place this week. 

Schools, libraries and other venues all over the UK will be hosting their own events and activities during the week, aimed at encouraging children to enjoy reading, explore libraries and bookshops, and even start writing themselves.

A range of resources for teachers and librarians are available from the Booktrust website, including fun activity ideas and book recommendations to help schools and libraries encourage children to get reading. 

You can download the resources available this year by clicking here.

Image: Edenpictures, Flickr