Treatment of Disease, Disorder or Injury – An Explanation of the CQC’s Definition

One of the activities that is required to be regulated by the Care Quality Commission is the Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The title sounds quite straight forward but providers must ensure that they fully understand the definition of the activity to ensure that it covers the services that they wish to provide, and also to see whether there are additional activities that they need to apply to be registered for.

The basic definition is that this regulated activity covers a service provided by a healthcare professional, social worker or multi-disciplinary team, and that the service provided is in relation to treating disease, disorder or injury. This service can be delivered within any environment such as a clinic, hospital setting or in the patient’s home.

For the purpose of this particular regulated activity, a healthcare professional is defined as one of the following:

– Medical practitioner

– Dental practitioner

– Dental hygienist

– Dental therapist

– Dental nurse

– Dental technician

– Orthodontic therapist

– Nurse

– Midwife

– Biomedical scientist

– Clinical scientist

– Operating department practitioner

– Paramedic

– Radiographer

If a provider involves any of the above professionals in treating disease, disorder or injury, whether as part of a multi-disciplinary team or as a standalone service then they will need to apply for registration under the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Additionally, social workers can deemed as healthcare professionals in this context but only if they are treating patients with a mental disorder.

The definition of treatment is also clearly defined by the CQC and includes (but is not limited to):

– A diagnostic or screening procedure which is carried out for medical purposes

– The ongoing assessment of an individual’s mental or physical state

– Nursing care

– Personal care

– Palliative care

– The administration of vaccinations and immunisations

It is important to note that there are some treatments that do not fall within the definition of this regulated activity and these will need to be registered separately, these include:

– Slimming clinics

– Surgical procedures

– Some IVF services

Furthermore, this activity does not include complementary therapies and alternative treatments.

If you as a provider feel that your service fits into this category, it is worth taking some time to see if you also need to be registered within another category to ensure you are covering every possible regulated activity that you carry out. As an example, treatment of disease, disorder or injury includes the regulated activity ‘nursing care’ but if you provide nursing care that isn’t directly related to the treatment of disease, disorder or injury (TDDI) then you will also need to be registered for the regulated activity ‘nursing care’. In the same way, diagnostic and screening procedures is incorporated within TDDI but if you also carry out such procedures not in relation to TDDI then you will need to apply to be registered separately for this category.

It is vital that when you complete your CQC application form you ensure that you are applying to be registered for the most appropriate regulated activity and for all of the regulated activities that you provide.