Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers

Transcription

1 Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers Summary 3 Background to the registration system and fees 3 1. On what basis can you charge a fee? 3 2. When did you consult on your proposals? 3 3. What happens now you have consulted? 4 Period covered by the fee scheme 4 4. When will the new fees scheme come into effect? 4 5. How long will the fees scheme last for? 4 What the fee scheme covers 4 6. What is included in my fee? 4 7. Will I have to pay a fee for initial registration? 5 8. Will I have to pay a fee for an application to make a variation to a condition on my registration? 5 9. Will I have to pay a fee to add a new regulated activity? Will I have to pay a fee for a new registered manager application? What fee will I pay if I am a charitable provider? What fee will I pay if I am a provider of out-of-hours services, new into registration? 5 Calculation of fees How will my fee be calculated? What if I provide an adult social care service with accommodation? What if I provide an adult social care service without accommodation? What if I am an independent healthcare provider? What if I am an independent healthcare Hospital provider? How do I know if I am an independent healthcare Hospital provider? I provide independent healthcare acute services, but I am not sure if I am a Hospital. How do I check? Yes, I think the example above describes my organisation, so how will my fee be calculated? I am an independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) and don t have any overnight beds. Do I fall into the Hospital category or a different one? What if I am a dental provider, an independent ambulance, or an out-of-hours service provider? What fees do I pay if I am the Health Protection Agency, NHS Blood and Transplant or NHS Direct? 8 Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v1.00 1

2 24. I am an independent healthcare provider, but I don t fit any of the above categories. What fee category do I fit into? I am a social enterprise organisation (SEO) or a community interest company (CIC). Where do I fit in the fees scheme? I provide a range of services that span within or across a number of the fees categories. What fees will I have to pay? 9 (This paragraph does not apply to NHS trusts) What if my organisation is an NHS trust? My organisation is an NHS trust that provides both healthcare and adult social care services. What fee category do I fit in? What if my organisation is a newly established NHS trust on 1 April 2012? My organisation is a Primary Care Trust. What fees do I pay? What if my organisation is a Primary Care Trust that has not yet transferred services to other providers under the Transforming Community Services programme? 10 Determining categories How do you define what fees apply to different categories of provider? Why are service types relevant to fee categories? I think that the service types I told you about might not be correct. What should I do? How can I check that my fee calculation has been based on the correct information? Are service types important if I am an NHS trust? 12 Payment of fees Will I still pay separate fees on different dates for each location? I have more than one location. Will I receive separate invoices for each of my locations at different times of the year? What happens to my fee payment if I make changes to my registration by adding or removing locations? I am a provider with more than one location, and I was registered before 1 April How is the date of my invoice calculated? I am a provider who was registered before 1 April 2011 and have only one location. When will I be invoiced? I am a provider who was registered after 1 April 2011 but before 1 April When will I be invoiced? When will I be invoiced if I am a new provider, or a provider of out-of-hours services registering for the first time on 1 April 2012? My organisation is an NHS trust. When will I be invoiced? My organisation is a primary care trust and has transferred most of its services to other providers but still provides some registerable services. When is my fee due? What happens to my invoice date in future years? Where will my invoice be sent to? Will I be able to pay my invoice by instalments? Is there a refund policy? Where do I send my annual fee payment? What happens if I don t pay my fee? 16 Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v1.00 2

3 Summary This guidance is for all service providers. It gives an overview of the fees scheme for 2012/13. It includes: how we will calculate annual fees when fees are to be paid what the payment methods are You should read this alongside the legal scheme of fees, which is referred to throughout this guidance and can be found with associated documents on our website at: You may also find it helpful to refer to our guidance on locations at: Background to the registration system and fees 1. On what basis can CQC charge a fee? The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (HSCA) introduced a new, single registration system that applies to all health and adult social care providers who carry out defined regulated activities. Any provider of regulated activities must register under the HCSA. Section 85 of the HSCA allows CQC to charge fees related to its registration functions. CQC are obliged to consult on proposals for fees and to secure approval from the Secretary of State in setting its fee levels. 2. When did CQC consult on its proposals? CQC consulted in October 2011 on proposals to make some minor changes to the existing fees scheme. We also consulted in January 2012 on further minor changes that were needed which came to light during our earlier consultation. We carried out a 12-week and 4-week consultation respectively, directly communicating our proposals to providers and stakeholder organisations and we published our consultation documents on our website. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v1.00 3

4 3. What happens now CQC has consulted? We took the responses into account in setting our final fees scheme and received approval for this from the Secretary of State in March Our response to the consultation and our impact assessment are available on our website. The fees scheme will take effect from 1 April Period covered by the fee scheme 4. When will the new fees scheme come into effect? The fees scheme comes into effect on 1 April The scheme is available on our website. 5. How long will the fees scheme last for? The fees scheme is in force until it is superseded by a new scheme. Proposals for any changes to the fees scheme will be subject to a further formal, public consultation process. We are committed to reviewing our fees scheme where necessary and ensuring that it is covering the costs of our registration and compliance activities. What the fee scheme covers 6. What is included in my fee? The fees scheme consists of an annual fee. This annual fee is charged once a service provider is registered. The fee covers the costs of our registration activities, which include initial registration, ongoing monitoring of compliance after your initial registration and any changes you wish to make to vary or add to your registration during the year. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v1.00 4

5 7. Will I have to pay a fee for initial registration? No. We don t charge a separate fee for an application to register. 8. Will I have to pay a fee for an application to make a variation to a condition on my registration? No. We don t charge a separate fee for any applications to make a variation to your conditions of registration. 9. Will I have to pay a fee to add a new regulated activity? No. We don t charge a separate fee to add a regulated activity to your existing registration. 10. Will I have to pay a fee for a new registered manager application? No. We don t charge a separate fee for any application to register a manager. 11. What fee will I pay if I am a charitable provider? Charitable organisations will pay the fee amount that is applicable to the type of health or social care service they provide. Fees are set against the cost of regulating each of the sectors, and charitable organisations are treated in the same way as any other equivalent provider of their type and size. 12. What fee will I pay if I am a provider of out-ofhours services, new into registration? If you are a provider of out-of-hours services who has one location, you will pay an annual fee of 800 in the 2012/13 year. If you have more than one location, you will pay a higher rate of annual fee, depending on the number of locations you have registered. The fees for providers of out-of-hours services are outlined in section 2 (2) (c) of the fee scheme. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v1.00 5

6 Calculation of fees 13. How will my fee be calculated? The annual fee amount you will pay depends on whether you are an adult social care provider, an independent healthcare provider or an NHS trust. Fees are based on those three main categories outlined in our fees scheme. The adult social care category is split into two sub-categories and the independent healthcare category is split into three. 14. What if I provide an adult social care service with accommodation? If you are a care home provider, your annual fee will be based on the number of registered places you have at each location you are registered for. Your fee will be based on the bandings set out in paragraph 2 (2)(d) of our fees scheme. The upper and lower ranges of registered places are set out within seven bands. 15. What if I provide an adult social care service without accommodation? If you are a social care provider who does not provide any accommodation, your annual fee will be based on the number of locations you are registered for. Your fee will be based on the bandings set out in paragraph 2 (2)(e) of our fees scheme. The upper and lower ranges of fees are set out within six bands. 16. What if I am an independent healthcare provider? If you are an independent healthcare provider your annual fee will be based on the type of healthcare service you provide e and the number of locations you are registered for. There are three categories of independent healthcare providers for the purposes of our fees scheme: hospital provider other healthcare provider provider of Dental, independent ambulance or out-ofhours services. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v1.00 6

7 17. What if I am an independent healthcare Hospital provider? If you are an independent healthcare Hospital provider, your fee will be based on the bandings set out in paragraph 2 (2)(a) of our fees scheme. The upper and lower ranges for fees are set out within six bands. 18. How do I know if I am an independent healthcare Hospital provider? Hospital providers are defined as those who carry out healthcare activities under specific service types that are set out in our Guidance about compliance. The service types are: acute Services (ACS) hospitals for people with mental health needs and/or learning disabilities and/or problems with substance misuse (MLS) long term conditions services (LTC). 19. I provide independent healthcare acute services, but I am not sure if I am a Hospital. How do I check? Some services that are included within the descriptions of Acute Services (ACS) in our Guidance about compliance are not classed as hospitals for the purposes of paying annual fees. If your service is one where your sole or main activity is one of the following, you will pay a lower fee. The specific services are: Dental treatment carried out under general anaesthesia; Obstetric services and medical services in connection with childbirth; Termination of pregnancies; Cosmetic surgery; Haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis; Refractive eye surgery involving the use of a laser or intense pulsed light; Procedures carried out under anaesthesia or intravenous sedation where those procedures are associated with in vitro fertilisation or assisted conception; Activities to which the service type Diagnostic and/or screening services (DSS) applies. 20. Yes, I think the example above describes my If you are one of these providers, you will pay fees within the bandings set out in paragraph 2 (2)(b) of our fees scheme. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v1.00 7

8 organisation, so how will my fee be calculated? These fee bandings are set at a lower fee level than those in paragraph 2 (2)(a). The upper and lower ranges of fees are set out within six bands 21. I am an independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) and don t have any overnight beds. Do I fall into the Hospital category or a different one? If you are an independent healthcare provider that falls into the Acute Services description, but either: do not fall into the sole or main activities list of services above, or do not provide any overnight beds for patients you will fall into the lower fee category. This means that you will pay fees within the bandings set out in paragraph 2 (2)(b) of our fees scheme. These fee bandings are set at a lower fee level than those in paragraph 2 (2)(a). The upper and lower ranges of fees are set out within six bands. 22. What if I am a dental provider, an independent ambulance, or an out-of-hours service provider? If you are a dental independent ambulance or a out-of-hours services provider, your fee will be based on the bandings set out in paragraph 2 (2)(c) of our fees scheme. The upper and lower ranges of fees are set out within six bands. 23. What fees do I pay if I am the Health Protection Agency, NHS Blood and Transplant or NHS Direct? You will pay fees within the bandings set out in paragraph 2 (2)(b) of our fees scheme. The upper and lower ranges of fees are set out within six bands. 24. I am an independent healthcare provider, but I don t fit any of the above categories. What fee category do I fit into? You will pay fees within the bandings set out in paragraph 2 (2)(b) of our fees scheme. The upper and lower ranges of fees are set out within six bands Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v1.00 8

9 25. I am a social enterprise organisation (SEO) or a community interest company (CIC). Where do I fit in the fees scheme? If you are a SEO or a CIC provider, you may provide services across several service types (also see paragraph below and the section on Determining categories). Some of the smaller SEOs or CICs, and those who operate out of multiple locations, may find they will have a higher than expected annual fee, because they provide multiple services, have multiple locations or both. We recognise the impact this may have and have committed to reviewing this in our next fee consultation later this year. 26. I provide a range of services that span within or across a number of the fees categories. What fees will I have to pay? (This paragraph does not apply to NHS trusts) If you are a provider of services that span over one or more of the fee categories or sub-categories, you will pay the separate annual fees associated with that category for each location where that applies. This paragraph does not apply to NHS trusts. This paragraph might apply, for example, if you are a provider of: Adult social care services, both with and without accommodation, or Both social care and independent healthcare services, or Independent healthcare services across two or more of the three healthcare categories. Any separate fees you are liable for will be combined together as one annual payment on a single date. 27. What if my organisation is an NHS trust? If you organisation is an NHS trust, your fee will be based on the total amount of operating revenue given in your last published audited accounts. The upper and lower ranges of fees are set out within six bands in our fees scheme. 28. My organisation is an NHS trust that If your organisation is an NHS trust that provides both healthcare and adult social care services, you will be charged the fee within your banding under the NHS fee category. You Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v1.00 9

10 provides both healthcare and adult social care services. What fee category do I fit in? will not be required to pay additional fee charges from the separate healthcare and adult social care fee categories, as your annual fee is based on your turnover, which relates to all of your activities. 29. What if my organisation is a newly established NHS trust on 1 April 2012? If your organisation is a newly established NHS trust, your fee will be based on the estimated operating revenue as shown in your business plan for the year 2012/ My organisation is a Primary Care Trust. What fees do I pay? If your organisation is a Primary Care Trust (PCT) that has recently transferred its services to other providers under a contract made through the Transforming Community Services programme, but has remained as a registered provider because it is still directly providing some regulatory activities, you will pay a flat rate annual fee of 1,500, regardless of the number of locations you have registered. Please see our fees scheme. If your organisation is a PCT that is no longer providing any regulated activities, you do not need to be registered and no fee will be due. 31. What if my organisation is a Primary Care Trust that has not yet transferred services to other providers under the Transforming Community Services programme? If your organisation is a PCT that has not yet transferred its services to other providers under a contract made through the Transforming Community Services programme, and has remained as a registered provider because it is still directly providing regulatory activities, you will be charged the fee within your banding under the NHS fee category, based on your turnover, which relates to all of your activities. Please see our fees scheme. This will apply only to one PCT in the 2012/13 fee year. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v

11 Determining categories 32. How do you define what fees apply to different categories of provider? In order to accurately define the annual fees that apply particularly to the categories of independent healthcare provider, we have referred to a number of service types in our fees scheme. The service types are taken from descriptions we have used in our Guidance about compliance document. 33. Why are service types relevant to fee categories? When we consulted on our Guidance document, and subsequently published it, the definitions of service types were intended only to provide a guide for providers to help them identify the service-specific prompts that applied to their type of service. We are now also using the service types within our fees scheme for some providers. Depending on what service types you have told us you provide, we will charge an annual fee against that description. It will therefore be very important that your service types are accurately identified, so that the annual fee we charge you is the correct amount. 34. I think that the service types I told you about might not be correct. What should I do? We recognise that you may have told us that you provide a number of different services but did not identify those with an annual fees charge in mind. You may want to revisit the service types you told us about and change those to more accurately reflect the services that you provide. If that is the case, you will need to discuss this with your Compliance Inspector. Our registration guidance and forms will also assist new providers, applying to register for the first time, to select the most appropriate service types from our Guidance about compliance document. It will also include what to do if you are an existing provider applying to add a new location to your registration. 35. How can I check that my fee calculation has been based on the We will provide information on your invoice about how we have calculated your annual fee. If you have any queries about your invoice, you can contact: Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v

12 correct information? Care Quality Commission T70 Payables F179 Shared Business Services Phoenix House Topcliffe Lane WAKEFIELD WF3 1WE 36. Are service types important if I am an NHS trust? Service types are not used to calculate fees for NHS trusts, so they are not important from a fees perspective to those providers. Payment of fees 37. Will I still pay separate fees on different dates for each location? Each provider will pay a single annual fee on the same date every year. If you are not an NHS trust provider, the calculation of the total amount of annual fee you will need to pay will take account of all locations that are included as conditions of registration on your certificate of registration on the date the invoice is raised. If you are an NHS trust provider, please refer to the paragraphs below in this section about NHS trusts. 38. I have more than one location. Will I receive separate invoices for each of my locations at different times of the year? No, you will be invoiced only once during the course of the year. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v

13 39. What happens to my fee payment if I make changes to my registration by adding or removing locations? If you are an NHS Trust, your fee won t be affected if you make any changes to the number of locations you have registered, as your fee is based on turnover. If you are a PCT that has transferred your services to other providers under a contract made through the Transforming Community Services programme, but you still provide registerable services, and you make any changes to the number of locations you have registered, your annual fee won t be affected as you pay a flat rate fee. If you apply to remove locations from your registration after you have paid your annual fee, and this takes you into a lower fee band, the reduction in your fee won t take effect until your next annual fee is due. We do not make in-year adjustments to fees for any changes to the number of locations. If you apply to add locations to your registration after you have paid your annual fee, and this takes you into a higher fee band, the increase in your fee won t take effect until your next annual fee is due. We do not make in-year adjustments to fees for any changes to the number of locations. 40. I am a provider with more than one location, and I was registered before 1 April How is the date of my invoice calculated? If you are an adult social care or independent healthcare provider with more than one location and you were registered before 1 April 2011, we streamlined your multiple payment dates into a single one in the fee year 2011/12. This date will continue to form your annual payment date for this year and each subsequent year. 41. I am a provider who was registered before 1 April 2011 and have only one location. When will I be invoiced? If you are an adult social care or independent healthcare provider with a single location only and you were registered before 1 April 2011, your invoice date for 2012/13 will be the same as before. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v

14 42. I am a provider who was registered after 1 April 2011 but before 1 April When will I be invoiced? If you are an adult social care or independent healthcare provider and you were registered after 1 April 2011 but before 1 April 2012, your invoice date for 2012/13 will be the date on which your registration first took effect during 2011/12, and will continue to be that date in subsequent years. 43. When will I be invoiced if I am a new provider, or a provider of out-ofhours services registering for the first time on 1 April 2012? If you are a new adult social care or independent healthcare provider, or are a provider of out-of-hours services, and you were registered on or after 1 April 2012, your invoice date for 2012/13 will be the date on which your certificate of registration was issued to you. In subsequent years, your annual fee invoicing date will be the date your registration first took effect in 2012/13. This may be a different date to the one when your certificate of registration was issued to you. Your registration takes effect when we issue you with the first Notice of Decision about your registration. 44. My organisation is an NHS trust. When will I be invoiced? If your organisation is an NHS trust and was first registered with CQC on 1 April 2010, we will continue to invoice you on 1 April each year. If your organisation is an NHS trust, registered for the first time other than on 1 April 2010, we will invoice you on the date your registration first took effect. 45. My organisation is a primary care trust and has transferred most of its services to other providers but still provides some registerable services. When is my fee due? If your organisation is a primary care trust that has divested its services to another provider(s) under a contact made through the Transforming Community Services programme, but it still provides some regulated activities, your annual fee will be due on the same date as before. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v

15 46. What happens to my invoice date in future years? We will continue to invoice you on the same date in subsequent years, even if you increase the number of your locations or you make other changes to you registration that affects your fee charges. 47. Where will my invoice be sent to? We will send your annual fee invoice to the address you have given to us as the nominated address for your organisation. If you are a provider who has more than one location, we will not send individual invoices to your separate location addresses. 48. Will I be able to pay my invoice by instalments? No, not at the present time. All invoices must be paid by cheque, BACs or debit card. There is no facility to pay by instalments. 49. Is there a refund policy? If you are no longer going to be carrying on any regulated activities and you apply to cancel your registration as a service provider, you may be entitled to a rebate of a proportion of your annual fee if you have already paid it for the year. Applications to cancel a registered manager s registration, or remove one or more of your locations, or cancel registration for individual regulated activities (where you will be continuing to provide others) do not constitute a cancellation of registration as a service provider, and no rebate of fees will be due to you in these cases. If you think you may be entitled to a rebate of your fee, you will need to write to our Finance department at: CQC Finance Department PO Box 1259 Citygate Gallowgate Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 5AW and we will calculate any rebate that may be due. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v

16 Rebates are calculated to the nearest month and will only be payable once we have processed your application to cancel your registration as a service provider. There may be circumstances where cancellation of registration is as a consequence of government policy or changes to the scope of regulation which result in whole groups of providers no longer being required to be registered. In these situations, we will review any financial impact on the specific group(s) of providers and on CQC before we determine the rebate policy. In cases where we have taken enforcement action to suspend or cancel your registration, and you have already paid your annual fee, you will not be eligible for any rebate of your fee. 50. Where do I send my annual fee payment? Please note the address to send annual fee payments is: Care Quality Commission T70 Payables F179 Shared Business Services Phoenix House Topcliffe Lane WAKEFIELD WF3 1WE Please do not send annual fee payments to our Newcastle address. 51. What happens if I don t pay my fee? Non-payment of fees is an offence under the Health and Social Care Act We will send you reminder letters and statements notifying you of our debt collection procedure if you do not send us your fee payment when it is due. If CQC proceed with any enforcement action due to nonpayment of fees, this may affect your continued registration. Regulatory fees 2012/13 guidance for providers : v