11.5 CQC Emerging Concerns Protocol – South Tyneside Safeguarding Adults Board APPP

RELEVANT CHAPTERS

RELEVANT INFORMATION

Emerging Concerns Protocol (Care Quality Commission and partners)

1. Introduction
2. Purpose of the Protocol
3. Principles
4. The Process for Responding to Concerns
- 4.1 Categories of concern
- 4.2 How to use the protocol
5. Safeguarding
6. Recording Requirements
7. Sharing Personal Data
Annexes

1. Introduction

This chapter summarises the Emerging Concerns Protocol which can be used by organisations who have signed up to the protocol to act early and share information with regulators where there are concerns about risks to people using services, their carers, families or professionals.

Partners to the protocol share a common objective of making sure that health and social care professionals and systems across the UK serve to protect the public, whilst maintaining the health, safety and wellbeing of professionals, people using services and also their families and carers.

The aim of the protocol is to strengthen and encourage good practice by enabling the sharing of information about emerging quality concerns in a timely fashion.

Each of the organisations signed up to the protocol has a responsibility for responding to concerns about care provision and a role in ensuring that those who use services, their carers and families receive high-quality services from professional staff and registered health and social care organisations.

2. Purpose of the Protocol

The Protocol states:

‘The purpose of the Protocol is to provide a clear mechanism for signatories to share information that may indicate risk. This could include risks to people who use services, their carers, families, learners or professionals. Primarily it is a mechanism to triangulate information to support decision making. It aims to enable:

safe and timely sharing of information, which individually might seem small or insignificant, but when joined together can tell us a problem is emerging

consideration of any collaborative support, decisions or regulatory activity to address concerns in a proactive way.

This will allow signatories to fulfil our collective role better, as well as improve our ability to fulfil our individual roles. We also believe that working together more effectively can reduce unnecessary burden. For example, we can do this by encouraging our organisations to develop joint plans when we share similar concerns, or by taking assurance from each other’s actions.

3. Principles

The following principles – which underpin the Protocol – have been agreed across all organisations acting as signatories.

The Protocol is:

open to use irrespective of how small an issue may appear to be
flexible and empowering, supporting signatories to understand how they can share information
developed through a collaborative, partnership approach between organisations
linked to other governance arrangements and tools in the system, such as the National Quality Board’s quality governance and oversight guidance
not a replacement of existing responsibilities and arrangements for taking emergency action, including arrangements for whistleblowing and responsibilities under Duty of Candour and Fit and Proper Persons Regulations.

Organisations that have signed up to the Protocol commit to:

promoting the use of the Protocol and considering its use for relevant issues no matter how small
considering how issues may have implications for system and professional regulators, including in relation to learning environments
modelling an open culture and encouraging others to openly share information
being transparent about how the Protocol is used, while maintaining confidentiality of content (in all directions, including the National Quality Board, providers, public, registrants)
being explicit about confidentiality agreements and parameters (including working with information shared by third parties)
using the Protocol within the law, including any restrictions on information sharing that are included in each signatory’s statutory role
respecting the executive autonomy of each individual signatory
acting in support of good working relationships and existing formal and informal mechanisms that already exist, for example, signatories will continue to use specific Memoranda of Understanding they may share.

4. The Process for Responding to Concerns

4.1 Categories of concern

Concerns may come into three categories:

concerns about individual or groups of professionals;
concerns about healthcare systems and the healthcare environment (including the learning environments of professionals);
concerns that might have an impact on trust and confidence in professionals or the professions overall.

4.2 How to use the protocol

This is a summary of the process. See the Annexes at the bottom of this chapter for more detailed information about each stage.

4.2.1 A concern is identified

Evaluate information and source;
Does the protocol need to be triggered?

REMEMBER: no piece of information is too small to invoke the protocol.

At this stage it may be decided that the Protocol does not need to be triggered and the information can be dealt with through other routes.

4.2.2 Consider the interests of partner organisations

Who do we need to share with?
Who do we need information from? (See Annex A: Organisations Involved).

At this stage it may be decided that the Protocol does not need to be triggered and the information can be dealt with through other routes.

4.2.3 Contact Organisations B, C & D to share (and request) information

All organisations store information in their own systems;
Organisation A responsible for formal recording of the use of the protocol.

See Section 6, Recording Requirements and Section 7, Sharing Personal Data

4.2.4 Hold regulatory review panel (RRP)

RRP convened, coordinated, chaired and minuted by Organisation A;
Use the template agenda for a regulatory review panel.

4.2.5 Share outcomes

RRP record shared with all partners and Health and Social Care Regulators Forum secretariat for monitoring and report at next Forum (including if there is no further action);
Use of protocol reviewed for learning every time.

5. Safeguarding

Any organisation may receive information that indicates that abuse, harm or neglect has taken place. Any form of abuse, avoidable harm or neglect is unacceptable. Each organisation will have procedures for managing these types of concerns and they must be followed. Each organisation remains responsible for ensuring they follow their own internal safeguarding procedures. Nobody should wait to activate the protocol instead of acting on safeguarding concerns – immediate action should always be taken where necessary (see Safeguarding Enquiries Process section).

6. Recording Requirements

7. Sharing Personal Data

When using the protocol, mostly there should not be a need to share personal data about individuals. Organisations convening an RRP must ensure however that only those who need to know the information should attend if personal information is to be shared in the panel.

Any processing of personal data is subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (see Data Protection Act chapter).