Health regulator not fit for purpose - Streeting

The body responsible for regulating NHS and care services in England is not fit for purpose, the health secretary has said.

Wes Streeting's intervention comes after an independent review found significant failings at the Care Quality Commission (CQC), according to headline findings released by the government.

The CQC inspects everything from hospitals and GP practices through to care homes and dental surgeries, covering 90,000 different services. Wes Streeting said he was “stunned” by the scale of the problems as he announced a set of emergency measures.

The CQC said it accepted the findings in full.

Among the failings identified were:

• Inspectors lacking the necessary experience – including some being asked to inspect hospitals without ever having been into one before
• Care home inspectors who had never met a person with dementia
• A backlog of assessments with one in five services never having been given a rating – this is thought to include new care providers, GPs and private health clinics that have opened in the last five years
• One NHS hospital having gone more than 10 years since its last inspection
• A lack of consistency with assessments

The full interim report is due to be published on Friday.

Among the measures being taken is the appointment of Sir Mike Richards, a vastly experienced cancer doctor who has previously worked in government as national director of cancer care and spent four years as the chief inspector of hospitals from 2013, to work with senior leaders at the CQC and conduct a "rapid review" of the watchdog.

The regulator has just appointed an interim chief executive, Kate Terroni, who was deputy chief executive until last month when Ian Trenholm announced he was stepping down as head of the CQC.

Mr Streeting told BBC Breakfast he was also looking to appoint a new chief executive and chief inspector of hospitals who the government "can work with to turn the regulator around."

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Read the Independent review into the operational effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission: interim report

Source: BBC News, 26 July 2024