THE DUTY OF CANDOUR – CELEBRATING SUCCESS

Regulation 20 of the new Care Act, the Duty of Candour, requires all care homes to conspicuously display their most recent CQC (Care Quality Commission) rating on their premises.

This heralds in a new era of transparency, openness and visibility for the care sector and an upgrade to the traditional relationship between providers and customers.

Under the Duty of Candour residents and their families can now expect more open communications about all aspects of the care being delivered and how the home is being managed in general.

At the CAP Awards, we fully support this move towards transparency, and better communication, and it is something that we already encourage our housekeeping and catering award winners to participate in.

All our winners display their CAP Award plaques in their receptions and hallways and we encourage them to announce their awards in their newsletters, on their websites, through the local press and on social media – transparency should also be about celebration.

The Duty of Candour will give residents and their loved ones more confidence in the social care sector and drive up standards.

We are delighted that the CQC continues to recognise the merits of the CAP Awards and acknowledges that having an award reduces the risk of non-compliance.

As independent arbiters of quality our agenda is completely in tune with the Duty of Candour and we look forward to working with providers to help deliver ever greater excellence in housekeeping and catering.