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Care Quality Commission
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Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the UK Government's Department of Health and Social Care. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care providers in England. It was formed from three predecessor organisations:
The CQC's stated role is to make sure that hospitals, care homes, dental and general practices and other care services in England provide people with safe, effective and high-quality care, and to encourage those providers to improve. It carries out this role through checks during the registration process which all new care services must complete, as well as through inspections and monitoring of a range of data sources that can indicate problems with services.
Part of the commission's remit is protecting the interests of people whose rights have been restricted under the Mental Health Act.
Until 31 March 2009, regulation of health and adult social care in England was carried out by the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection, and the Mental Health Act Commission had monitoring functions with regard to the operation of the Mental Health Act 1983. The Care Quality Commission was established as an integrated regulator for England's health and adult social care services by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to replace these three bodies. The commission was created in shadow form on 1 October 2008 and began operating on 1 April 2009.
In an internal report to the CQC's audit committee revealed by the Health Service Journal in July 2014, it was reported that the commission had employed 134 applicants in 2012 who "failed some or all of its recruitment activities". Of that group, 121 were still in post. The report said: "This in essence implies that our regulatory judgments may be impaired as we have not always appointed staff with the core competencies required to do the job properly, and they may not have received appropriate training to bring them up to the standard required." In the same month, the chief executive at the time, David Behan, said that recruiting extra inspectors was taking longer than expected due to the "high standards" set for new recruits. As a result, some teams were operating at 50% capacity. In response to this situation the number of inspections scheduled for the second half of 2014 was scaled back.
In August 2013 the CQC stated that it was finding it difficult to meet their inspection target of GP practices and had therefore drafted in 'bank' inspectors and authorised staff overtime to deal with the backlog. A report of the CQC board in December 2014 showed the organisation had 852 full-time equivalent inspectors in post but a target of 1,411 by December 2015 – the number needed to "discharge the commitments that we've made in our business plan". One of the CQC's priorities set out in its strategy for 2016 to 2021 was to make greater use of data indicators and intelligence in regulating services.
In July 2024, the CQC was described as a "failing organisation" by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, in response to an interim report written by Penny Dash, who had been charged earlier in the year (by the previous Conservative government) with investigating the capacity and performance of the commission. Dash's full report was issued in October 2024, and a second report on the wider picture affecting the quality of care in England is due for publication in 2025.
The commission has three chief inspectors (two of which are vacant):
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Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the UK Government's Department of Health and Social Care. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care providers in England. It was formed from three predecessor organisations:
The CQC's stated role is to make sure that hospitals, care homes, dental and general practices and other care services in England provide people with safe, effective and high-quality care, and to encourage those providers to improve. It carries out this role through checks during the registration process which all new care services must complete, as well as through inspections and monitoring of a range of data sources that can indicate problems with services.
Part of the commission's remit is protecting the interests of people whose rights have been restricted under the Mental Health Act.
Until 31 March 2009, regulation of health and adult social care in England was carried out by the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection, and the Mental Health Act Commission had monitoring functions with regard to the operation of the Mental Health Act 1983. The Care Quality Commission was established as an integrated regulator for England's health and adult social care services by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to replace these three bodies. The commission was created in shadow form on 1 October 2008 and began operating on 1 April 2009.
In an internal report to the CQC's audit committee revealed by the Health Service Journal in July 2014, it was reported that the commission had employed 134 applicants in 2012 who "failed some or all of its recruitment activities". Of that group, 121 were still in post. The report said: "This in essence implies that our regulatory judgments may be impaired as we have not always appointed staff with the core competencies required to do the job properly, and they may not have received appropriate training to bring them up to the standard required." In the same month, the chief executive at the time, David Behan, said that recruiting extra inspectors was taking longer than expected due to the "high standards" set for new recruits. As a result, some teams were operating at 50% capacity. In response to this situation the number of inspections scheduled for the second half of 2014 was scaled back.
In August 2013 the CQC stated that it was finding it difficult to meet their inspection target of GP practices and had therefore drafted in 'bank' inspectors and authorised staff overtime to deal with the backlog. A report of the CQC board in December 2014 showed the organisation had 852 full-time equivalent inspectors in post but a target of 1,411 by December 2015 – the number needed to "discharge the commitments that we've made in our business plan". One of the CQC's priorities set out in its strategy for 2016 to 2021 was to make greater use of data indicators and intelligence in regulating services.
In July 2024, the CQC was described as a "failing organisation" by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, in response to an interim report written by Penny Dash, who had been charged earlier in the year (by the previous Conservative government) with investigating the capacity and performance of the commission. Dash's full report was issued in October 2024, and a second report on the wider picture affecting the quality of care in England is due for publication in 2025.
The commission has three chief inspectors (two of which are vacant):