CQC to appoint three new Chief Inspectors following damning report

Dr. Penny Dash’s independent review into the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has highlighted several critical issues for the adult social care.

The final report found poor operational performance and challenges with the provider portal and regulatory platform, as well as poor presentation of reports and a loss of credibility within the health and care sectors due to reduced sector expertise.

She found numerous concerns surrounding the Single Assessment Framework (SAF), including lack of clarity, inconsistency in care assessments, and insufficient focus on outcomes and innovation.

There was also a lack of transparency in rating calculations, often relying on outdated inspection data.

Dr Dash also noted missed opportunities to enhance the CQC’s role in improving quality across the health and care sector, as well as concerns regarding CQC’s early Integrated Care System (ICS) assessments.

In July, when Dr. Dash published the interim report, Kate Terroni, the then interim Chief Executive of the CQC, issued an apology for the errors made and the consequent erosion of trust within the sector. She acknowledged that they’ve “made mistakes” and expressed regret for the impact these errors have had.

Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, labelled the CQC as “not fit for purpose”, saying it is failing those the organisation is meant regulate, and the individuals who rely on these regulations to guarantee them safe, high-quality care.

“We welcome the final part of Dr Penny Dash’s review – we accept the findings and we will address the recommendations with urgency," Ian Dilks, Chair of CQC, said.

"Today also sees the publication of the review we commissioned from Professor Sir Mike Richards – we are extremely grateful to Sir Mike for his helpful work and will be using his recommendations to help us respond to the serious failings identified by Dr Penny Dash. His review also offers additional suggestions for improvement that we will be exploring as part of our wider recovery work.

The regulator has accepted the high-level recommendations of both reports, which identify serious organisational failings, and is taking rapid action in response. CQC has committed to 'align the organisation around sector expertise by appointing at least 3 chief inspectors to lead on regulation and improvement of hospitals, primary care, and adult social care services.'

The report from Dr Penny Dash also talks about the need to change assessments of local authorities and integrated care systems, which the regulator welcomes. CQC has agreed that local authority assessments will continue with ongoing improvements and continued engagement with the health and care sector. In line with changes to the assessment framework, CQC says it will make scoring of evidence more transparent, and will strengthen its focus on nationally agreed priorities.

In agreement with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) CQC has paused its assessments of integrated care systems for 6 months. This is to free up capacity to carry out more assessments of providers and enable the regulator to modify its current assessment framework.

"I have been working closely with providers of health and social care and with CQC staff to find solutions to the very real problems identified by Dr Penny Dash. CQC’s transformation programme has not delivered what was intended," Professor Sir Mike Richards, said.

“CQC urgently needs to return to a structure where inspections teams are led once again by chief inspectors relating to the different sectors that CQC regulates. In addition, the current assessment framework needs to be radically simplified and the major problems with the new IT system need to be rectified. I know that work is already underway to address these areas.

“I believe that CQC’s problems can be fixed relatively quickly under the leadership of Julian Hartley, the incoming Chief Executive. Providers have overwhelmingly reaffirmed that they want good regulation, and many CQC staff remain fully committed to delivering this. These changes will help the regulator to effectively deliver its crucial work of ensuring that people get high quality, safe care.”