CQC must pay £500,000 after provider wins High Court challenge

The Care Quality Commission has been criticised by the High Court for failing to follow its own conflict of interest policy, after a legal challenge by a mental health provider.

Cygnet, the private inpatient mental health provider, instigated the judicial review against the regulator, accusing it of failing to follow its conflict of interest policies in its choice of inspector.

The CQC will now have to review its report into one of the Cygnet-run sites, the Acer Hospital in Chesterfield. It was given an “inadequate” rating, an unusual outcome for a focused inspection, and put into special measures over risks to patients and poor staffing.

The inspector at the centre of the case – who cannot be named because of reporting restrictions – had previously been detained in two hospitals run by Cygnet in 2012-13 – and had complained about his care and treatment.

The former mental health nurse went on to become a CQC inspector and started to inspect facilities run by Cygnet in 2019.

At a court hearing, Cygnet argued seven inspection reports on five of its sites, and enforcement action taken against one of them, were affected by the inspector’s apparent bias. The CQC had previously refused to review these reports and enforcement action, the provider said.

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Source: HSJ, 24 February 2025