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From 1 July 2024, in some adult care services, the Care Inspectorate will assess and report on service’s self-evaluation of the core assurances.

It is known that the core assurances are a key driver to good outcomes and minimising the risk of poor outcomes, which is why these are examined at every inspection. They are also easily measured and validated.

All services will already be engaged in self-evaluation as part of their quality assurance strategy to improve their care delivery.

Use Your QCS Core Assurance Template

This Core Assurances template should then assist services to identify their strengths and areas for improvement focussing on outcomes that matter to service users.

The results can be collated in the service improvement plan, detailing areas of improvement, identifying actions and timeframes to further develop the areas and improve the care delivery of the service.

Although only some services will be part of this exercise, all services should use the core assurances document in their quality assurance strategy, and a Service Improvement Plan.

What will inspectors look for?

During inspections, inspectors will routinely look for evidence of the service’s self-evaluation process, associated improvement plan and how people’s views have been included. The aim is to validate the information contained within the self-evaluation, which will enable the regulator to provide feedback and additional support where required.

The self-evaluation will not be formally graded; however, the Care Inspectorate will report on the quality of service’s self-evaluation processes within the key messages section of their reports.

Remember to demonstrate involvement of:

• Service users
• Families, friends, and carers
• Staff
• External professionals
• Other stakeholders

Participation in meetings, one to one chats and satisfaction surveys are all material that can evidence involvement.

How QCS can help you

Here at QCS we have 4 satisfaction surveys that use the Health and Social Care Standards statements and ask the participant to grade each statement from 1 to 6 following the grading scores.

Core assurances should be regularly reviewed and updated as part of their ongoing quality assurance strategy, I would advise monthly and update the Service Improvement plan after using the tool.

Completing the core-assurances self-evaluation is not compulsory at this stage. I would suggest you use this tool; it is an excellent document that guides and supports the user on what to look for and how to gather evidence for your Service Improvement plan and demonstrate the measures in place to drive improvement.