How CQC inspects gambling treatment services

Making contact with you

We require all service providers to identify a lead person and provide contact details for them. This is so we can talk to them about the assessment programme. We will contact this person before an assessment and for any other reason related to the programme or if we need information about your services. They will also need to tell us about any changes to the services you provide. You need to tell us if there are any changes to this role, for example the person’s name or contact details, so we can contact you quickly when we need to.

We will allocate a CQC inspector to your organisation so that you know who to contact if you have any general queries about the assessment programme. You can contact CQC at any time to discuss the assessment programme by emailing CQCgamblingwork@cqc.org.uk

Before we carry out our assessment, the inspector will:

• announce the assessment
• make any necessary logistical arrangements
• make sure that you are prepared for the assessment process.

The inspector will telephone you 10 working days before the planned date of our assessment to make sure you know the date, and to discuss how we will carry out the assessment.

During the initial call, the inspector will confirm:

• that your organisation is providing the service we have told you we plan to assess
• that the gambling treatment service is open/operating on the planned day of the assessment, and that staff and service users will be available to speak with or meet inspectors
• email addresses of any key contacts at the service (including the service manager)
• practical arrangements for the visit such as an allocated space for the assessment team to work in, facilities available, and access to systems and documents.

The inspector will also:

• explain how we send the formal announcement letter to confirm our assessment
• explain what information we need you to send before the assessment and how to send it to us
• explain the assessment process
• agree a provisional assessment timetable
• discuss and agree arrangements to speak with managers and your staff
• explain about giving service users the opportunity to provide feedback to inspectors through the survey or interviews
• explain how we will engage with service users and ask you about any support they will need during the assessment, such as a quiet area to talk and how to arrange interpretation needs.

If the inspector needs to confirm the assessment plan or answer your questions about the process, they will arrange a follow-up call with you.

Provider Information Return

Before an assessment, we will ask you to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This helps us to understand more about the service you provide. The PIR form will ask you for information about:

• the services you provide
• external services that you liaise with
• staffing arrangements and staffing levels
• how many people use your service
• how you monitor the quality of the services you provide
• any adverse incidents and complaints
• feedback you have collected from service users
• policies and procedures.

This is not a full list, and we may ask for other information if we need it. You will have 5 working days to complete and respond to our request. We will tell you how and when to submit the information, and who to contact if you have any questions.

At any stage during the assessment process, inspectors may need to ask you for some additional specific information to clarify queries or strengthen the evidence they have collected. We will keep track of these extra requests to avoid duplication and to make sure that we only request information that we need, which is not available elsewhere.

Data sharing and processing agreement

As part of this baseline inspection activity, it is necessary for service providers, as Data Controllers, to share data with CQC. For the purposes of this agreement, both parties will be considered to be Data Controllers. A copy of the data sharing agreement is on the webpage and this will need to be completed before inspection activity commences.

Engaging with service users

We will use different ways to engage with service users to gather their views about your service. It’s important that they can give feedback on their experiences.

Service user survey

We will develop a survey for service users to complete. We will give you guidance on how to share this with them.

When we receive responses, our inspectors will manage the information confidentially and we will use this feedback to help us to understand your service.

Speaking with service users

During on-site assessments, our inspectors will speak with service users who are willing to share information about their support. This will usually be an individual conversation in a private space, or with your staff present if requested.

We can also speak with service users on the telephone, or through online digital apps such as Microsoft Teams, during the assessment. This may be particularly useful for people who access support remotely.