Royal Mail and Parcelforce Deliveries and Collections to/from Care Homes following the 11 November coming into force of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021:
This LTB should be read in conjunction with LTB No. 437/2021 issued on 12 October 2021 to which this is an update and is being issued for clarification purposes.
Two internal Royal Mail communications issued earlier this week unfortunately caused a high level of confusion, misinterpreted the legal position and appeared to conflict with the agreed process for Royal Mail and Parcelforce Deliveries and Collections to Care Quality Commission (CQC) Registered Car Homes in England, covered by the new legislation from 11 November 2021. (Note: The Regulations do not apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
Discussions with the business have now resolved the matter satisfactorily with Freddie Warnock Royal Mail Group SHE Head of Safety UK Operations and Dr Shaun Davis the Royal Mail Group Global Director of Compliance and Sustainability who has communicated the following points:
- For all Care Quality Commission (CQC) Care Homes in England, covered by the new legislation, Royal Mail and Parcelforce employees must NOT enter the property under any circumstances during the course of their duties.
- The legislation does not apply to non-CQC sheltered accommodation, retirement flats, homes or villages etc or any other multi occupied site or building. In respect of these premises, deliveries and any collections will be made as normal.
- It remains the agreed position that has been shared within Royal Mail and the CWU through Letters To Branches (LTB) 437/21 covering Royal Mail and Parcelforce Deliveries and Collections to/from Care Homes in England from 11 November 2021.
In order to give managers the clarity they require, the latest list of Care Quality Commission CQC Care Homes in England has been shared with RM and PFW Operations. The premises listed will be the only ones that will NOT be accessed but Royal Mail and Parcelforce will make deliveries and collections from outside the premises, allowing employees to comply with the legislation.
A Link to the list of care homes within the Care Quality Commission (CQC) remit is available at the below link and an ‘Excel’ electronic file copy is attached for your information: https://www.cqc.org.uk/search/services/care-homes?location=&latitude=&longitude=&sort=default&la=&distance=15&mode=html
There are circa 1500 CQC Registered Care Homes in England.
If further checks need to be made locally regarding confirmation of a Registered Care Home then the CQC can be contacted as follows: Telephone: 03000 616161 – Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk
Attachment: CQC Care Home list.
(Note: The new Regulations do not apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
Yours Sincerely,
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
Mark Baulch
Assistant Secretary
Outdoor Department
Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary
Processing, Logistics, Parcelforce, International, Quadrant Department
LTB 483-21 Collections to and from Care Homes
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
Leave a Reply