Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2020 to Question 98692 on Care Homes: Standards, what steps a person can take in the event that they are concerned that there are not sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons deployed to meet the needs of the people using the service.

Anyone with concerns about staffing, or other standards of care can contact the Care Quality Commission (CQC) about their concerns. The CQC encourages people to contact them by telephone, email or by using their online ‘Give Feedback on Care’ web form. This allows the CQC to respond to poor care, abuse and neglect immediately.

A crucial part of the CQC’s regulatory approach is the ability to hear the voices of relatives, people who use services, and staff. Inspectors routinely talk to Local Healthwatch and others who represent or act on behalf of people who use services.

The CQC also encourages staff to speak up by following their own service-specific internal whistleblowing policies, as well as directing them to relevant whistleblowing helplines which give free, independent and confidential guidance.