YOU ARE HERE: Home > Briefings > Healthcare > CQC briefing - CQC
   guidance: Sexuality and relationship needs of service users

CQC briefing – CQC guidance: Sexuality and relationship needs of service
users

--
   As recognised by Debbie Westhead, Interim Chief Inspector for the CQC,
   ‘[…] the best care is person-centred and in supporting relationships
   and sexuality there can be no one approach that fits all’. The new
   guidance seeks to detail how providers should consider service users’
   relationships and sexuality needs. It addresses a number of issues
   ranging from gender identity, sexual disinhibition and how providers
   can support people with accessing dating services.
--
   sources of evidence that the CQC will be interested in, when it comes
   to assessing whether providers recognise and support service users with
   their sexuality needs.

Capacity to consent to sexual relations
--

   The guidance suggests that induction and ongoing training for staff
   regarding sexuality and relationships will assist staff to approach the
   issues in a considered way. Training and awareness of Equality,
   Diversity and Human Rights (EDHR) should help staff explore their own
   assumptions or bias about the sexuality needs of older people or those
   living with disabilities. Training should also cover how to identify
   people at risk of exploitation and how to report this.
--
CQC inspection

   Appendix 1 of the guidance shows how sexuality may be considered within
   various key lines of enquiry. Providers should take note that the CQC
   expects registered managers, providers and registration applicants to
   be able to explain how their service supports people to meet their
   sexuality needs and to describe specific measures which have been
   implemented.

--
   Full guidance can be accessed
   here: https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20190221-Relationships
   -and-sexuality-in-social-care-PUBLICATION.pdf

   Disclaimer