CQC taking ‘enforcement action’ against every fourth service it inspects

A quarter of services the Care Quality Commission has recently inspected required enforcement action from the regulator, its chief executive has revealed. 

Speaking at the launch of the regulator’s annual State of Care report, Ian Trenholm called for a “long-term, sustainable funding solution” from the government to aid a service that was ”genuinely struggling to cope”.

Mr Trenholm said “about a quarter of the services” the CQC has inspected in 2022 had resulted in it having to take “enforcement action”.

Examples of action taken against NHS trusts in the last year included enforcement measures placed on Nottingham University Hospitals, University Hospitals Sussex, and Princess Alexandra Hospital.

In response to a question from HSJ about the robustness of the CQC’s inspection regime following further care quality and safety scandals, Mr Trenholm said observers should not focus solely on the ratings given to trusts by the CQC as there was a lot ”work going on in the background, whether that’s enforcement or otherwise”.

He added the CQC had significantly increased the amount of information it was gathering in relation to concerns about services.

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Source: HSJ, 21 October 2022