Recognising the pressure on health and care providers during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, as well as the increased risks to both staff and those who use such services, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) paused its routine inspections to instead carry out remote assessments – of which B&M Care is delighted to have met all of CQC’s requirements.

Developed as an Emergency Support Framework (ESF), this interim approach reflected CQC’s regulatory role and core purpose of keeping people safe. The ESF was used to assess four key areas:

• Safe Care and Treatment
• Staffing Arrangements
• Protection from Abuse
• Assurance Process, Monitoring and Risk Management

Used in all health and social care settings, each assessment was carried out via telephone to primarily use and share information to target support where it is needed the most. In addition, the ESF supported providers such as B&M Care with taking appropriate action to continue keeping people safe, and best protecting them when carrying out day-to-day care practice.

Praised for our communication, planning, and clinical governance, CQC documented our homes’ robust infection control assurance and scalable contingency plans – each of which are regularly evaluated as part of B&M Care’s Covid-19 Response. These factors contributed to B&M Care meeting the ESF standards.

For more information about B&M Care’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, please visit: www.bmcare.co.uk/coronavirus.