CQC Registration Toolkit, Guidance for GPs

From 1 October 2011, all GP practices and other NHS primary medical services providers in England will be invited to apply for registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and will need to be registered by 1 April 2012. The GPC has developed a toolkit together with a document outlining policies and protocols to attempt to reduce the burden of the application process by providing a straightforward, plain English explanation of CQC registration, provide information on applying for registration and suggestions on what you could be doing to meet the CQC’s Essential Standards of Quality and Safety. This toolkit also highlights the current situation regarding demonstrating compliance. The guidance in this toolkit will be updated if and when the expectations from CQC change.

Important Note: You do not need to do anything yet! CQC has proposed changes to its plans for registration of primary care medical services (GPs) to the DoH. The aim is to try to improve the process for GPs, to give CQC more opportunity to embed compliance monitoring in the sectors they already regulate, and to ensure registration is more closely aligned with accreditation schemes. Registration will open in October 2011 for dedicated ‘out of hours’ services, but the timing and make up of subsequent batches is still to be confirmed. CQC will make a further announcement about their plans in June. CQC will ensure providers have enough time to prepare for registration. There are no plans to change the scope of regulation – all primary care medical services will have to register with CQC.

Bribery Act 2010 Guidance

We The Government has produced this guidance and quick start document on the Bribery Act 2010 with the intention of helping organisations understand the legislation and deal with the risks of bribery. The Act comes into force on 1 July 2011.

Revised guidance, Ethnicity and First Language Recording

Please note this GPC guidance on ethnicity and first language recording has been revised to provide clarity that this work is no longer a contractual requirement; the guidance is to assist those practices choosing to continue.