David Sheppard
Noted
The Department of Health acknowledges the concerns and outlines the responsibilities of care providers and the CQC. They clarify the role of the NMC and the requirements for language testing for non-regulated workers, noting the Care Certificate covers communication. (AI summary)
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Philip Dunne MP Minister of State for Health Department of Health Richmond House 79 Whitehall Our reference: PFD-1085354 London SWIA 2NS reference: 115279 DAVID SHEPPARD (LHIAS) Tel: 020 7210 4850 Mrs Louise Hunt HM Senior Coroner Birmingham & Solihull Areas Coroner' s Court 50 Newton Street Birmingham B4 6NE Deac Louise , 4th July 2017 Thank you for your letter of 9 2017 to the Secretary of State about the death of Mr David Sheppard. I am responding as the Minister with responsibility for workforce and quality regulation at the Department of Health. Iwas very saddened to read of the circumstances surrounding Mr Sheppard s death. Please pass my condolences to his family and loved ones Ihave noted very carefully the conclusion of the inquest and the areas of concern you have detailed. Clearly, the failure to take adequate action in response to Mr Sheppard's fatal situation was unacceptable. I can appreciate how distressing these circumstances must be for Mr Sheppard '$ family: All registered providers ofhealth and social care in England are required to provide safe, effective, compassionate and high quality care and to meet the fundamental standards of quality and safety as set out in Regulations (Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated activities) Regulations 2014) www legislation gov ukluksi/2014/2936/contents/made: It is the responsibility of Boldmere Court Care Home as the registered provider to ensure there are sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent; skilled and experienced persons deployed and appropriately trained as necessary to enable them to carry out their duties. Your May
It is the responsibility of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as the independent regulator ofhealth and adult social care in England; to monitor; inspect and regulate services to make sure meet the fundamental standards of quality and safety; You have therefore taken the correct action in addressing your Report to the CQC and Boldmere Court Care Home who will respond on the specific matters of concern you have raised, Iunderstand the provider has taken a number of measures to address concerns including, but not limited to, the provision of training with first aid, CPR and choking prioritised in the induction process; as well as documentation training sessions and the introduction of an incident reporting questionnaire. Iam aware that the CQC conducted an inspection of Boldmere Court Care Home in January 2017, resulting in a of *Good' overall with no breaches of regulation identified. At this inspection the CQC reviewed the provider'$ progress on the actions it had taken in light of this incident: am assured that as part ofits inspection programme, CQC will continue to monitor that service user' s needs are met through verbal and non-verbal communication skills at Boldmere Court The CQC will also monitor that the provider continues to meet the required standards around ensuring staff receive appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal as necessary to enable them t0 cartry out the duties are employed to perform (Regulation 18); and that systems and processes are in place to ensure compliance with the requirements around maintaining accurate; complete and contemporaneous records for people receiving care (Regulation 17). You mention in your Report that two nurses were involved in the incident: As you may be aware, nurses must register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC); and meet professional standards to work in the UK, and be fit for practise This includes sufficient knowledge of the English language to be able to perform their roles. For registered nurses; we expect the NMC'$ registration processes and associated checks to be appropriate, robust, fit for purpose, effective and to verify that the applicant is who claim to be and that are appropriately qualified, competent and fit to practise and have the ability to speak English to the required standard; The NMC has three different registration processes UK, Europe and the rest of the world; The NMC requires all overseas applicants, defined as those who trained outside the European Economic Area (EEA), to complete the academic version of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) achieving level 7.0 across all four aspects of listening, reading, writing and speaking: they - rating being they they they
Department of Health The NMC also requires those European trained applicants who are unable to provide sufficient evidence of English language skills such as having trained or worked in an English-speaking country to complete an English Language Assessment to the required standard: Where there is concern that a nurse may not meet the professional standards required in the UK, the NMC has a duty to investigate and, where necessary, take action to safeguard the health and well-being of the public. Fitness to Practise allegations can relate to concerns over a nurse'$ ability to communicate effectively in English, in addition to matters such as clinical competence. I note your report has been shared with the NMC. I should clarify that the Department does not involved with or comment on individual fitness to practise cases There is no requirement for language testing non-regulated workers; such a8 care staff. However; social care employers are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained and competent for the tasks are recruited to do. This includes the ability to communicate effectively. Communication is covered within the Care Certificate. However; there is no explicit reference to being proficient in the English language. The Care Certificate is an identified set of standards that health and social care workers adhere to in their daily working life. Designed with the non-regulated workforce in mind, the Care Certificate provides confidence that these workers have the same introductory skills, knowledge and behaviours to provide compassionate, safe and high quality care and support; Further information on the Care Certificate can be obtained from the Health Education England website https Ihhee nhs uklcarecertificate: I should point out that the Care Certificate also covers awareness of mental health, dementia and learning disabilities so that staff supporting people with challenging behaviours have a basic awareness of their needs. At Boldmere Court Care Home; I am advised that this is supplemented with mandatory training and hands-on training with staff and patients I hope this reply is helpful in setting out the national requirements and regulations around these areas of concern: Thank you for bringing the circumstances of Mr Sheppard's death to our attention. M< PHILIP DUNNE get they
It is the responsibility of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as the independent regulator ofhealth and adult social care in England; to monitor; inspect and regulate services to make sure meet the fundamental standards of quality and safety; You have therefore taken the correct action in addressing your Report to the CQC and Boldmere Court Care Home who will respond on the specific matters of concern you have raised, Iunderstand the provider has taken a number of measures to address concerns including, but not limited to, the provision of training with first aid, CPR and choking prioritised in the induction process; as well as documentation training sessions and the introduction of an incident reporting questionnaire. Iam aware that the CQC conducted an inspection of Boldmere Court Care Home in January 2017, resulting in a of *Good' overall with no breaches of regulation identified. At this inspection the CQC reviewed the provider'$ progress on the actions it had taken in light of this incident: am assured that as part ofits inspection programme, CQC will continue to monitor that service user' s needs are met through verbal and non-verbal communication skills at Boldmere Court The CQC will also monitor that the provider continues to meet the required standards around ensuring staff receive appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal as necessary to enable them t0 cartry out the duties are employed to perform (Regulation 18); and that systems and processes are in place to ensure compliance with the requirements around maintaining accurate; complete and contemporaneous records for people receiving care (Regulation 17). You mention in your Report that two nurses were involved in the incident: As you may be aware, nurses must register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC); and meet professional standards to work in the UK, and be fit for practise This includes sufficient knowledge of the English language to be able to perform their roles. For registered nurses; we expect the NMC'$ registration processes and associated checks to be appropriate, robust, fit for purpose, effective and to verify that the applicant is who claim to be and that are appropriately qualified, competent and fit to practise and have the ability to speak English to the required standard; The NMC has three different registration processes UK, Europe and the rest of the world; The NMC requires all overseas applicants, defined as those who trained outside the European Economic Area (EEA), to complete the academic version of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) achieving level 7.0 across all four aspects of listening, reading, writing and speaking: they - rating being they they they
Department of Health The NMC also requires those European trained applicants who are unable to provide sufficient evidence of English language skills such as having trained or worked in an English-speaking country to complete an English Language Assessment to the required standard: Where there is concern that a nurse may not meet the professional standards required in the UK, the NMC has a duty to investigate and, where necessary, take action to safeguard the health and well-being of the public. Fitness to Practise allegations can relate to concerns over a nurse'$ ability to communicate effectively in English, in addition to matters such as clinical competence. I note your report has been shared with the NMC. I should clarify that the Department does not involved with or comment on individual fitness to practise cases There is no requirement for language testing non-regulated workers; such a8 care staff. However; social care employers are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained and competent for the tasks are recruited to do. This includes the ability to communicate effectively. Communication is covered within the Care Certificate. However; there is no explicit reference to being proficient in the English language. The Care Certificate is an identified set of standards that health and social care workers adhere to in their daily working life. Designed with the non-regulated workforce in mind, the Care Certificate provides confidence that these workers have the same introductory skills, knowledge and behaviours to provide compassionate, safe and high quality care and support; Further information on the Care Certificate can be obtained from the Health Education England website https Ihhee nhs uklcarecertificate: I should point out that the Care Certificate also covers awareness of mental health, dementia and learning disabilities so that staff supporting people with challenging behaviours have a basic awareness of their needs. At Boldmere Court Care Home; I am advised that this is supplemented with mandatory training and hands-on training with staff and patients I hope this reply is helpful in setting out the national requirements and regulations around these areas of concern: Thank you for bringing the circumstances of Mr Sheppard's death to our attention. M< PHILIP DUNNE get they