July 26th 2024
An independent review of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has identified significant internal failings which is hampering its ability to identify poor performance at settings including GP practices.
The interim report, led by Dr Penny Dash, chair of the North West London Integrated Care Board, found inspection levels were still well below where they were pre-Covid, a lack of clinical expertise among inspectors, a lack of consistency in assessments and problems with the CQC’s IT system.
These failings mean the regulator is currently unable to consistently and effectively judge the quality of health and care services, including those in need of urgent improvement.
The Health and Social Care Secretary has announced four immediate steps to restore public confidence in the regulator and ensure patients can get an accurate picture of the quality of care available.
These include:
Some of Dr Dash’s emerging findings include that around one in five regulated settings have never received a rating.
A full report by Dr Dash which will be published in the autumn.
Commenting, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting, said: “I have been stunned by the extent of the failings of the institution that is supposed to identify and act on failings. It’s clear to me the CQC is not fit for purpose.”
Interim CQC Chief Executive Kate Terroni said: "We accept in full the findings and recommendations in this interim review. Work is underway to improve how we're using our new regulatory approach. We’ve committed to increasing the number of inspections we are doing... we’re increasing the number of people working in registration so we can improve waiting times. We’re working to fix and improve our provider portal, and this time we’ll be listening to providers and to our colleagues about the improvements that are needed... we’re also developing a new approach to relationship management that enables a closer and more consistent contact point for providers."
