The Care Quality Commission has ‘welcomed’ the findings of the two reports that worked to set the future course of the organisation, with yesterday bringing the publication of the final report from Dr Penny Dash’s review.
Dash’s review, following on from the first report of the independent review by Professor Sir Mike Richards, found a number of organisational failings within the CQC. These include the CQC’s assessments of local authorities’ Care Act duties, poor operational performance, and a loss of credibility within the health and care sectors thanks to a loss of expertise.
Considering these failings the CQC has already made a commitment to aligning the organisation around sector expertise, modifying the current assessment framework, ensuring that the right systems are in place to support regulatory activity, and improving the experience for providers that register with CQC. In response to the report from Dr Dash, which discussed the need for change when it comes to the assessment of local authorities and Integrated Care Systems, the CQC has also agreed to the following measures:
- Assessment of local authorities will continue with ongoing improvements and increased engagement with the health and care sector. To coincide with changes to the assessment framework, the scoring of evidence will become more transparent and will focus on nationally-agreed priorities
- Assessments of Integrated Care Systems will be paused, in agreement with the Department for Health and Social Care. This will free up capacity to assess more providers and enable the regulator to change its current assessment framework
- The CQC will collaborate with organisations that represent providers, to ensure that processes are improved and arrangements are strengthened for peer involvement of expert reviewers and advisors
Commenting on the reports, CQC Chair Ian Dilks said:
“We welcome the final part of Dr Penny Dash’s review – we accept the findings and we will address the recommendations with urgency. 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.
“Both reviews have reaffirmed the support for a robust health and care regulator and recognised the dedication and experience of CQC staff. We are committed to rebuilding trust in CQC’s regulation and are taking action to make sure we have the right structure, processes, and technology in place to help us fulfil our vital role of helping people get good care and supporting providers to improve.”
The Local Government Association has also commented on the Dash report, and the relationship that the organisation has with the CQC. Outlining how the LGA is committed to driving improvement, Chair of the Community Wellbeing Board Cllr David Fothergill said:
“The LGA recognizes the important findings of the Dash report. We value our constructive relationship with the CQC and are committed to supporting improvements, including defining consistent benchmarks for service quality.
“Given the ongoing rollout of CQC local authority assessments, we are keen to ensure there is adequate time for CQC, DHSC and local government to learn and reflect on the process so far, to help make sure adult social care assurance is fair and proportionate. We also support Dr. Dash’s upcoming review of other health bodies, which should include engagement with councils given the important work they do on safeguarding, defining quality, and striving for continuous improvement.”
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