core standard
core standard
An objective parameter by which an NHS Trust seeking Foundation status benchmarks itself.Core Standards, per Care Quality Commission
Safety
C1a Healthcare organisations protect patients through systems that identify and learn from all patient safety incidents and other reportable incidents, and make improvements in practice based on local and national experience and information derived from the analysis of incidents.
C1b Healthcare organisations protect patients through systems that ensure that patient safety notices, alerts and other communications concerning patient safety that require action are acted upon within required time scales.
C2 Healthcare organisations protect children by following national child protection guidelines within their own activities and in their dealings with other organisations.
C3 Healthcare organisations protect patients by following National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) interventional procedures guidance.
C4a Healthcare organisations keep patients, staff and visitors safe by having systems to ensure that the risk of healthcare-acquired infection to patients is reduced, with particular emphasis on high standards of hygiene and cleanliness, achieving year-on-year reductions in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
C4b Healthcare organisations keep patients, staff and visitors safe by having systems to ensure that all risks associated with the acquisition and use of medical devices are minimised.
C4c Healthcare organisations keep patients, staff and visitors safe by having systems to ensure that all reusable medical devices are properly decontaminated prior to use and that the risks associated with decontamination facilities and processes are well managed.
C4d Healthcare organisations keep patients, staff and visitors safe by having systems to ensure that medicines are handled safely and securely.
C4e Healthcare organisations keep patients, staff and visitors safe by having systems to ensure that the prevention, segregation, handling, transport and disposal of waste is properly managed so as to minimise the risks to the health and safety of staff, patients, the public and the safety of the environment.
Clinical and cost-effectiveness domain
C5a Healthcare organisations ensure that they conform to National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) technology appraisals and, where it is available, take into account nationally agreed guidance when planning and delivering treatment and care.
C5b Healthcare organisations ensure that clinical care and treatment are carried out under supervision and leadership.
C5c Healthcare organisations ensure that clinicians continuously update skills and techniques relevant to their clinical work.
C5d Healthcare organisations ensure that clinicians participate in regular clinical audit and reviews of clinical services.
C6 Healthcare organisations cooperate with each other and social care organisations to ensure that patients' individual needs are properly managed and met.
Governance domain
Some core standards do not appear on the declaration form as they are assessed through other components of the annual health check:
Standard C7f is assessed through the existing commitments & national priorities component of the annual health check.
Standard C7d is assessed through the quality of financial management component, which uses information from assessments undertaken by the Audit Commission and Monitor.
Standards C7f and C7d are not applicable to the Health Protection Agency, NHS Direct or NHS Blood and Transplant.
C7a and C7c Healthcare organisations apply the principles of sound clinical and corporate governance and Healthcare organisations undertake systematic risk assessment and risk management.
C7b Healthcare organisations actively support all employees to promote openness, honesty, probity, accountability, and the economic, efficient and effective use of resources.
C7e Healthcare organisations challenge discrimination, promote equality and respect human rights.
C8a Healthcare organisations support their staff through having access to processes which permit them to raise, in confidence and without prejudicing their position, concerns over any aspect of service delivery, treatment or management that they consider to have a detrimental effect on patient care or on the delivery of services.
C8b Healthcare organisations support their staff through organisational and personal development programmes which recognise the contribution and value of staff, and address, where appropriate, under-representation of minority groups.
C9 Healthcare organisations have a systematic and planned approach to the management of records to ensure that, from the moment a record is created until its ultimate disposal, the organisation maintains information so that it serves the purpose it was collected for and disposes of the information appropriately when no longer required.
Governance domain
C10a Healthcare organisations undertake all appropriate employment checks and ensure that all employed or contracted professionally qualified staff are registered with the appropriate bodies.
C10b Healthcare organisations require that all employed professionals abide by relevant published codes of professional practice.
C11a Healthcare organisations ensure that staff members concerned with all aspects of the provision of healthcare are appropriately recruited, trained and qualified for the work they undertake.
C11b Healthcare organisations ensure that staff concerned with all aspects of the provision of healthcare participate in mandatory training programmes.
C11c Healthcare organisations ensure that staff concerned with all aspects of the provision of healthcare participate in further professional and occupational development commensurate with their work throughout their working lives.
C12 Healthcare organisations which either lead or participate in research have systems in place to ensure that the principles and requirements of the research governance framework are consistently applied.
Patient focus domain
C13a Healthcare organisations have systems in place to ensure that staff treat patients, their relatives and carers with dignity and respect.
C13b Healthcare organisations have systems in place to ensure that appropriate consent is obtained when required for all contacts with patients and for the use of any confidential patient information.
C13c Healthcare organisations have systems in place to ensure that staff treat patient information confidentially, except where authorised by legislation to the contrary.
C14a Healthcare organisations have systems in place to ensure that patients, their relatives and carers h