CQC Requirements and the PCA

In some cases the CQC will insist that a care provider supply all, or part of a completed PCA, to aid them in their decision making process. You will then have 5 working days in which to supply the relevant section(s) of the PCA to the CQC.

Your PCA is therefore a vital tool in ensuring that your care service continuously proves its adherence to the essential standards. It must therefore be:

(a) Up to date;
(b) Detailed and thorough in its provision of evidence;
(c) Demonstrate compliance with the relevant essential standard; and
(d) Provide SMART action plans where necessary.

The PCA focuses principally on the 16 key essential standards, as specified within the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010, but if you are a new business, then you will find great value in having a PCA which covers all 28 outcomes, as you may need to provide evidence about staffing and management practices.

For more info see our pages on CQC Outcomes & Registration.

Self-Assessment and CQC Provider Compliance

The primary benefit of completing a PCA is that it amounts to a self-assessment tool, which you can supply to the CQC to provide evidence that you are indeed complying with the essential standards, or that actions are being taken to ensure that compliance will be met. This will help enormously with either reducing the frequency of inspections, or with providing inspectors with the re-assurance that you are maintaining ongoing compliance by continually updating your PCA, and by supplying it to the CQC either voluntarily or on request.

Quality Care Systems has developed a market-leading toolkit designed by an expert in care sector compliance and management, which provides structured and detailed advice in a digestible format, covering each of the 28 essential standards. The PCA Toolkit makes an ideal companion to our online care management system, which provides you with all the policies and procedures you could possibly need to run your care service efficiently and compliantly.