Welcome to the UKQCS newsletter. If you cannot see this email in graphical format, a formatted copy is available at www.ukqcs.info/newsletters.htm, together with an archive. This newsletter is free, so please pass it on to your colleagues, who can sign on for their own copy by visiting our website at www.ukqcs.com and completing the brief details requested. . www.ukqcs.info has been launched to provide clients and others with full information on the rapidly expanding range of support services provided by UKQCS. . Welcome back from holiday everyone. We have been inundated with “out of office” messages for weeks, hence holding up this newsletter so as not to add to the clogging of your mailbox. We trust you all had a good holiday and have returned charged up ready for a successful year. . As more and more of you go online for your quality assurance system at UKQCS, we start this regular feature explaining some of the features of the system which you may or may not have used yet -Search- After you have logged in, the orange bar at the top of the page, just under your logo, contains the “Search” facility. Search will find and report any keyword(s) you enter, anywhere in the policy and procedure set, or newsletter. Uses? Have you ever has a CSCI inspector or a quality assessor ask for your “policy on xxxx?”, and not been able to find it quickly under pressure because they are asking for something that is not in the title of your policies? Simply enter the keyword(s) in the search box and click. Within seconds a page listing every policy containing that keyword(s) appears so you can quickly confirm your policy. And you can click on the entry and show the enquirer the actual policy instantly. In addition, the page will list the occurrence of the word(s) in newsletters, which as you know give you advance warning up upcoming policy changes. Next week – Recommended Reading. . As is their wont, the Department of Health agency responsible for this area have changed their name, the address of their web site, and the location of the relevant documents. Policy C4900, Restraint Policy and Procedure has been updated to reflect the new information. In addition, the Alert Notice on the subject of bed rails, the new guidance, and a bed rail safety poster have been added to “Useful Documents” in UKQCS customer’s individual web sites to allow them to download and use them – see under “Bed Rail – “. Note in particular that the new guidance asserts that for adults the gap between bed rail bars must be less than 120mm, and that rails with a gap of 120mm or more should be taken out of use. This requirement has been added to the Bed Rail Fitting Assessment and Check form in the policy. Such is the importance of this update that the document will be set to “Re-read and Re-verify” for all customers. Remember that this document is one of those where staff have to digitally sign that they have read and understood the document contents. . Click here for details of the UKQCS Quality Management System . Grants of up to £2,500 will be made available to businesses affected by the floods to help them to develop recovery plans. The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is making this funding available as part of an initial package to help businesses to make as swift as possible a recovery from flooding. The package includes access to up to five days of consultancy for SMEs so that they will get the expert help they need. Business Link is the main point of contact for companies wishing to access this support. Business Link in Oxfordshire and Berkshire are running a campaign to inform affected businesses of the help available. They have established a “helpdesk” facility to ensure businesses can access advice and support quickly and easily. As well as general advice and support, Business Link will also provide access to the specific measures which SEEDA is introducing. These are: - Access to up to five days consultancy for SME companies to develop recovery plans, working with specialist business support organisations. - Assisting with access to alternative, temporary business accommodation, this may be available in SEEDA supported facilities, or other managed work space. - Information about the nearest wireless Broadband Hotspots, provided by SEEDA’s Broadband Partnerships, Connected Berkshire and Oxfordshire Broadband Partnership. This support as well as general business advice can be accessed through Business Link on 0845 600 9006 or go to www.businesslink.gov.uk. Companies affected by flooding will be fast tracked to experts through this number. SEEDA will also work with the market town partnerships affected by the floods and will support them in developing and implementing recovery plans which focus on the impact on business. . Click here for details of the UKQCS indemnified HR Support package . The chief executive of the Criminal Records Bureau has admitted that there is no simple way to check recruits from overseas. Vince Gaskell said the CRB has been working with other European countries and the federal police in Australia to develop ways of sharing criminal records. “It is not easy because of each of these requires changing the legislation. There is no silver bullet that will find a quick way through this,” he said. Community Care revealed earlier this year that many social care employers, such as those running domiciliary care agencies, are forced to hire people from overseas without being able to check their history in their home country. Reproduced from Community care – www.communitycare.co.uk . Click here for details of the UKQCS Quality Management System . All Venalink monitored dosage system users who requested the free medications policy and free medications online induction training should by now have received their access codes. Contact us on 08707 489 899 if you have not. Also contact us on that number if you wish to take advantage of the substantial discounts for Venalink users on the UKQCS Care Quality Management System and the UKQCS HR support package. . Click here for details of the UKQCS indemnified HR Support package . The joint review of adult community mental health services conducted by the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) assessed key community services in local implementation team areas that contributed to mental health and social care services for adults aged between 18 and 65 in 2005/06. The improvement review included mental health trusts, health and social care trusts, primary care trusts, Councils with Social Service Responsibilities and local voluntary and independent healthcare sector services. The report can be found at http://tinyurl.com/3293ot . Click here for details of the UKQCS Quality Management System . Having owned and managed care homes and care agencies for over 20 years in the past, your author knows what a hot-house of gossip and inter-personal pressure they can be. While this was a management problem some years ago, it is now a potential legal liability. An interesting recent Court of Appeal decision casts some light on that liability for employers. The case considered the fairness of a dismissal where the employee was on long-term stress-related sick absence, caused by bullying and mismanagement at work. The Court of Appeal held that:- - the fact that the employer has caused the incapacity in question, however culpably, does not preclude it from fairly dismissing the employee. the real question is whether the employer acted reasonably "in all the circumstances" - and the circumstances include the fact that the employer was responsible for the original absence. where the employer is responsible for an employee's incapacity, it should normally be expected to "go the extra mile in finding alternative employment for such an employee, or to put up with a longer period of sickness absence than would otherwise be reasonable". . Click here for details of the UKQCS indemnified HR Support package . A new document entitled “Bank holidays new leave arrangement OCT 2007” has been uploaded to “Useful Documents” in UKQCS customer’s individual web sites. . Click here for details of the UKQCS Quality Management System . For those of us of the stingy variety, Martin’s Money Tips free email regularly points to the best deals for a variety of products and services, and does not seem to give rise to spam attacks. Sign on at www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips . Click here for details of the UKQCS indemnified HR Support package . A new client was kind enough to ask to have access to any articles I have written for CMM. They can all be found via our informational web site at http://www.ukqcs.info/news.htm A new article on the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme should appear in the next CMM due soon, unless I have been spiked. You will need to register to gain access to the articles on the CMM web site, but I recommend it for the informative content, and it does not lead to spamming. . Online care sector management and quality assurance systems, information at www.ukqcs.info/online_manual.htm Care Training including NVQ, information at www.ukqcs.info/training.htm Personnel/Employment Law support/HR indemnity package, information at www.ukqcs.info/hr_support.htm HR/Personnel/Payroll outsourcing (details to follow) Audits; CSCI and RDB pre-audits, information at www.ukqcs.info/health_check.htm CRB/POVA checking, information at www.ukqcs.info/health_check.htm Induction, including LDAF, information at www.ukqcs.info/induction.htm Care and Business Consultancy, information at www.ukqcs.info/consultancy.htm Company registered in England & Wales Reg No 5776646. Registered Office 1 Blackley Hall Cottages, Pont-y-Capel Lane, Gresford, Wrexham. LL12 8SA Tel: 08707 489 899 Fax: 08701 316 817 Email: info@ukqcs.info Web: www.ukqcs.info
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