NHS and care regulator 'not fit for purpose'

This morning's BBC headline states that the NHS and care regulator is ‘not fit for purpose’ ahead of the publication of a National Audit Office report.

An independent review has found significant failings at the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which inspects over 90,000 hospitals and care providers in England.

The final report is due this autumn but it is worth noting that CQC inspections are not exclusively about the quality of NHS hospitals, dental services or care homes, it is also responsible for inspecting the quality of domiciliary care which includes home care, whether to an older homeowner or someone living independently in extra care housing, supported housing or at home with a PA.

The findings will therefore be of concern to providers of specialist/supported housing providers operating across all tenures.

Commenting on the news, the Housing LIN’s Jeremy Porteus said:

“While much of the emphasis will be on CQC’s poor performance regulating institutional settings such as the NHS, residential and nursing care, hundreds of thousands of people with complex needs also receive vital at-home care and support to maintain their independence. They too need confidence in how the regulatory regime oversees the quality of the personal care services they receive and the competence of agencies providing it.”