We have a day centre for adults with disabilities aged 18+ and within the day centre we also have a respite provision where clients can sleep overnight for a day or 2. Do we need to register for personal care since they are people with a disability? We are not supported living and we are not domiciliary; under which heading do we register the personal care.

Answered by Barry Price

In a nutshell, day centres are not subject to registration or inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) but that said there is still much confusion around about scope of registration for day services. They have produced guidance that may help you with this: https://bit.ly/3bduysK. As stated on the CQC website “CQC is the independent regulator of healthcare and adult social care services in England. We make sure the care provided by hospitals, dentists, ambulances, care homes and home-care agencies meets government standards of quality and safety”.

Given the variety and emerging different models of day centres across the social care sector this only adds to the confusion. E.G. in some elderly residential services have day centres attached that leads to the perception they are registered with the CQC as a day centre. In fact as a manager I previously led an elderly residential service, a small 8 bedded complex needs respite service and a day centre for learning disabilities and complex needs. Both the Care home and the Respite service were registered with CQC but the day service remained a separate entity. In another employment I managed standalone day centres that also was beyond the scope of CQC.

I think the fact many tasks are often carried out in day services identical to those carried out in registered services namely under Personal Care or Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care feed in to the confusion.

The particular case you refer to in your question I think would lead to the following:

You state that clients can stay for a day or two for respite and require personal care. I feel in order to operate within a legal and regulatory framework you should be registered as a care home without nursing under Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care. You would not gain Personal care as you would not fall under either a Dom care, Extra Housing, Shared lives or supported living services that carry this regulated activity. Your application would also need to ensure you clearly identify your service user Age range and Bands. These are included on the registration forms so may be useful to download these and digest them from https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/registration/type-service-you-plan-provide. Registration particularly Services for autistic people and people with a learning disability fall under the “registering the right support” guidance which you would also need to satisfy as part of your application. If you are considering this can I also suggest you contact your local Authority commissioning teams to discuss your situation and plans as you need to prove your business case and the commissioning teams would be able to assist with collating this evidence.

I’m sure my response will lead to an information overload and maybe not what you want to hear as by the sounds of things my comments are going to have significant impact on your current business model. Our teams may be able to offer more in depth support if you feel this is needed. Good Luck