CQC investigates its own response to concerns over troubled service

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has launched a review into its own regulatory response to a troubled autism service.

The CQC has asked its head of inspection for child and justice services, Nigel Thompson, to examine its response to concerns that were raised about an autism service in south Staffordshire in 2019.

Concerns were reported directly to the CQC in early 2019, by parents of children under the services, while similar issues were highlighted in a report from the local Healthwatch branch last July.

In a statement, the CQC said: “Following concerns raised with us by families, in relation to The Hayes autism service run by Midlands Psychology, we are looking at the evidence we received about this service and how we assessed this to inform our regulatory response.

“We are looking into these concerns in accordance with our complaints process. As a learning organisation, we welcome all feedback and we have already met with some of the families, but some meetings have been delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic.”

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Source: HSJ, 25 June 2020