Care Quality Commission in 'crisis', Health Secretary Wes Streeting warns - after new report calls for 'urgent' changes (2024)

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An independent review into the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has revealed "significant internal failings" that are hampering its ability to keep a check on health and social care institutions.

An interim report from Dr Penny Dash found the CQC's ability to identify poor performance at hospitals, care homes and GP practices had been impeded by its own issues, including low levels of inspections, a lack of clinical expertise amongst those carrying them out, a lack of consistency in assessments and IT issues.

The report found the watchdog was unable to effectively judge the quality of health and care services, including those in need of urgent improvement.

It also said social care providers were left waiting too long for registration and ratings to be updated, leading to an impact on local capacity.

Care Quality Commission in 'crisis', Health Secretary Wes Streeting warns - after new report calls for 'urgent' changes (1)

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Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who ordered the report to be published ahead of a full assessment due in the autumn, said he was "stunned" by the findings, which showed the organisation was "not fit for purpose".

He added: "I know this will be a worrying development for patients and families who rely on CQC assessments when making choices about their care.

"I want to reassure them that I am determined to grip this crisis and give people the confidence that the care they're receiving has been assessed. This government will never turn a blind eye to failure."

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Care Quality Commission in 'crisis', Health Secretary Wes Streeting warns - after new report calls for 'urgent' changes (5)

The CQC said it accepted the full findings and was "working at pace" to "rebuild that trust and become the strong, credible, and effective regulator of health and care services that the public and providers need and deserve".

In her report, Dr Dash revealed one in five health and social care providers had not received a rating from the CQC, despite its power to assess them.

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She also said some providers had not been re-inspected in "several years" - pointing to the oldest rating of a hospital being from 10 years ago, and the oldest social care assessment taking place in 2015.

Dr Dash also heard evidence that some inspectors of hospitals had never been to one before, while a social care inspector had never met a person with dementia.

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Care Quality Commission in 'crisis', Health Secretary Wes Streeting warns - after new report calls for 'urgent' changes (6) 9:55

Mr Streeting promised immediate action and increased oversight of the CQC, announcing the appointment of former chief inspector of hospitals Professor Sir Mike Richards to review its assessment frameworks.

The government also promised to improve transparency over the watchdog's ratings for health and social care providers and ensure the CQC regularly updates the Department of Health on its progress.

Meanwhile, Dr Dash has been asked to review all patient safety organisations for any of their own issues.

She said: "The contents of my interim report underscore the urgent need for comprehensive reform within the CQC.

"By addressing these failings together, we can enhance the regulator's ability to inspect and rate the safety and quality of health and social care services across England.

"Our ultimate goal is to build a robust, effective regulator that can support a sustainable and high-performing NHS and social care system which the general public deserves."

Dr Dash has called for urgent action from the CQC to overhaul its inspection and assessment system, as well as fixing its IT issues.

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Care Quality Commission in 'crisis', Health Secretary Wes Streeting warns - after new report calls for 'urgent' changes (7)

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The CQC's interim chief executive Kate Terroni said: "We accept in full the findings and recommendations in this interim review, which identifies clear areas where improvement is urgently needed.

"Many of these align with areas we have prioritised as part of our work to restore trust with the public and providers by listening better, working together more collaboratively and being honest about what we've got wrong.

"We are working at pace and in consultation with our stakeholders to rebuild that trust and become the strong, credible, and effective regulator of health and care services that the public and providers need and deserve."

Ms Terroni also said the organisation had committed to increasing the number of inspections, increasing the number of people working on registrations, and working on a "new approach to relationship management that enables a closer and more consistent contact point for providers".

Care Quality Commission in 'crisis', Health Secretary Wes Streeting warns - after new report calls for 'urgent' changes (2024)

FAQs

Care Quality Commission in 'crisis', Health Secretary Wes Streeting warns - after new report calls for 'urgent' changes? ›

Care Quality Commission in 'crisis', Health Secretary Wes Streeting warns - after new report calls for 'urgent' changes. Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the Care Quality Commission is "not fit for purpose" following damning findings from an independent review.

What is the CQC review 2024? ›

In May 2024, Dr Penny Dash was asked to conduct a review into the operational effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission ( CQC ). The purpose of the review was to examine the suitability of CQC 's new single assessment framework methodology for inspections and ratings of health and care providers.

What is the phone number for CQC notifications? ›

03000 616161. Our phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm, excluding bank holidays.

What is the meaning of CQC? ›

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates all health and social care services in England.

What is the duty of Candour? ›

1. This means that health and care professionals must: tell the person (or, where appropriate, their advocate, carer or family) when something has gone wrong. apologise to the person (or, where appropriate, their advocate, carer or family) offer an appropriate remedy or support to put matters right (if possible)

What is the highest CQC rating? ›

There are four ratings that we give to health and social care services: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
  • Outstanding. The service is performing exceptionally well.
  • Good. The service is performing well and meeting our expectations.
  • Requires improvement. ...
  • Inadequate.
Aug 25, 2022

What are the 5 standards of care? ›

Health and Social Care Standards ​

The Standards are built upon five principles; dignity and respect, compassion, be included, responsive care and support and wellbeing.

What are the 7 principles of care? ›

These are the guiding principles that help to put the interests of the individual receiving care or support at the centre of everything we do. Examples include: individuality, independence, privacy, partnership, choice, dignity, respect and rights.

What are the 5 pillars of CQC? ›

The CQC 5 Standards are: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-Led (more detail to follow below). Each of the CQC Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE) sits within one of the CQC 5 Standards.

What is CQC requirement? ›

The CQC 5 Standards are: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-Led (more detail to follow below).

What are the expectations of CQC? ›

Expectations of CQC's role

Our focus groups found that workers have high expectations of CQC's response to reported concerns. They felt that sharing concerns with CQC was a very serious matter and they would not do so unless all other internal options had been exhausted.

What is the CQC mission? ›

We are the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

What are the CQC quality statements? ›

Quality statements are the commitments that providers, commissioners and system leaders should live up to. Expressed as 'we statements', they show what is needed to deliver high-quality, person-centred care.

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