Scope of Practice & CQC Boundary Policy

What's inside

This policy is fully drafted and structured, ready to brand and complete for your service. It covers:

• 1. Purpose
• 2. Scope
• 3. Policy statement
• 4. Definitions
• 5. Our position, activity by activity
• 6. Where the line is easiest to cross
• 7. Triage and booking
• 8. Introducing a new treatment
• 9. Individual scope of practice
• 10. Roles and responsibilities
• 11. Training and competence
• 12. Records, monitoring and audit
• 13. Version control and review
• 14. Appendix A - Practitioner scope of practice record
• 15. Appendix B - Booking triage criteria
• 16. Related documents
• 17. Disclaimer

CQC fundamental standard

Legislation & standards it maps to

• Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 - in particular Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment), Regulation 17 (Good governance) and Regulation 18 (Staffing)
• Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009
• Health and Social Care Act 2008: Schedule 1, regulated activities including treatment of disease, disorder or injury, surgical procedures and diagnostic and screening procedures
• Health Professions Order 2001 and the Health and Care Professions Council standards of proficiency for chiropodists and podiatrists
• Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (as amended)

Who it applies to

All podiatrists, chiropodists, foot health practitioners, assisting staff, and the nominated individual and registered manager of [Organisation Name]

Glossary

Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.

Chiropodist / podiatrist

Protected titles. Only someone registered with the HCPC may call themselves either.

Domiciliary visit

Treating a patient in their own home rather than at the clinic.

Foot health practitioner

Someone offering foot care who is not HCPC registered and cannot use the protected titles.

HCPC

The Health and Care Professions Council, the body that registers and regulates podiatrists.

Nail avulsion

Removing all or part of a toenail, usually under local anaesthetic.

Nominated Individual

The senior person responsible to CQC for how the regulated activity is managed.

Phenolisation

Applying phenol to the nail bed after removing a nail, to stop that part of the nail growing back.

POM-A / POM-S

Prescription-only medicines that specially qualified podiatrists are allowed to administer, or to sell and supply.

Registered Manager

The person registered with CQC as responsible for the day-to-day running of the regulated activity.

Regulated activity

A type of care that by law can only be provided by an organisation registered with CQC to provide it.

Scope of practice

The list of things a particular practitioner is trained, assessed and permitted to do.

Triage

Sorting patients at the point of booking so that each is seen by someone able to treat them safely.

How it works

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2. Download your editable Word file from the link we email you straight away.
3. Complete the placeholders for your service, then have it approved before use.
4. Add the optional updates subscription and we keep it current as guidance changes.