At Bettal we talk to a lot of people each week including potential providers who are contemplating registering a domiciliary care agency, supported living or other residential service. We know that there are a lot of challenges people face when seeking to register as a new provider with the CQC because we support over 150 new providers to successfully register each year and have been doing so for over 25 years.
There are many ways you can approach registering with the CQC, going it alone, going with an individual consultant, using some documents from a quality consultancy and document provider like Bettal and using a consultant who uses documents from a provider like Bettal.
Going it alone
Going from a standing start to register your own business with the CQC alone is reserved for those individuals who are very brave, very skilled and who have a lot of time available to them. Going it alone means becoming familiar with the requirement of the CQC for registration, identifying what elements of the advice apply to you and then getting all of the documentation together and completing it correctly.
It also means preparing some policies and procedures, making a submission and being confident that the submission will succeed.
Using a freelance consultant
Using a consultant is a good way to get registered with less stress. It is however an expensive option especially if you ask them to produce all of the documents you need, including the policies and procedures needed at registration. In all likelihood it is going to cost a few thousand pounds at the very least and, here’s the rub, the polices are not tried and tested at this point.
Freelance consultants can only give advice, they cannot guarantee your registration and they cannot immediately provide all of the policies and procedures you will need to run the business once registered. Getting bespoke policies is time consuming and very expensive.
Using the Bettal registration pack
Getting a registration pack from Bettal means you will have all of the right policies and procedures in place and you will have the guidance pack to help you to register your agency. Having the pack however does leave you needing to complete the application process including writing a lot of the CQC forms content yourself. This time consuming and like going it alone means you will need to read and understand what the application process requires of you. That said if you are an experienced CQC registered manager or provider, this route is very doable, but you need to be diligent.
The other benefit of going with a quality provider like Bettal is that you will have access to all the policies and procedures you need to start your business once you are registered and you can rest assured that someone else is updating them for you.
Using the Bettal registration pack and a consultant
The fourth way to get support in registration, which then extends into the period after registration, is to subscribe to a policy and procedure provider like Bettal and use a consultant to apply for registration. While this is more expensive than going it alone either with or without Bettal policies, it is cheaper than just using a consultant and less stressful and more likely to be successful than going it alone. This route is also more likely to get you registered fairly quickly as the policies and procedures are ready and a social care consultant will know the process of registration.
Summary
Writing your own application for registration with the CQC is time consuming and has the potential to be very stressful, time consuming and ultimately fail. Using a social care policy and procedure provider like Bettal means you have documents you know have been approved by the CQC time and time again and removes a layer of uncertainty from the process.
Using a quality consultancy like Bettal for registration also means that once registered you are in a position to start work immediately as all of the documents, records, policies and procedures you need are there and ready to use.
There are many good reasons for subscribing to Bettal for your policies and procedures not least among which are that we are tried and tested and written and updated by health and social care professionals. We also pride ourselves on our customer support, something which is not always available from some of the larger providers.
Bettal Quality Consultancy has a comprehensive and regularly updated suite of policies, procedures and risk assessments tailored to all forms of social care provision, to support busy registered managers and their teams in registration and the provision of CQC compliant care.
If you would like to know more, browse our website or get in touch:
Email: info@bettal.co.uk
Telephone: 01697741411
Peter Ellis MA MSc BSc(Hons) RN
Consultant
Bettal Quality Consultancy