In its latest email update (4 January 2024), the Care Quality Commission has issued ‘Top tips for a good experience submitting notifications’.
The regulator refers to statutory requirements for regulated providers to notify CQC about certain changes, events and incidents that affect their service or the people who use it.
To get getting notifications right, CQC’s advice to regulated providers is:
- If you have access to the provider portal (current or new), this is the easiest and quickest way for you to submit a notification
- If you're using a Word form, always download the latest version from CQC's website rather than using saved versions as CQC change our forms from time to time
- Make sure the provider and location IDs and name of provider entered on the form are correct. It is important to remember this will have changed if you have made changes to your legal entity. You will find your provider ID and the location IDs on your latest certificate of registration.
- Make sure all the fields on the notification form are completed
- Keep up to date with the latest guidance on submitting notifications
- You should always receive a submission notification and a reference when you have correctly submitted a notification. If you do not receive this CQC may not have received your information.
The regulator recommends providers sign up to the new provider portal as soon as they are invited. It is inviting small groups of providers to use the new portal and intends to make it available to all providers by the end of March 2024.
To prepare for the new portal, CQC asks providers to make sure all the contact details it holds for the organisation are correct, and watch the introduction to CQC's new provider portal.