Creation of the CQC: Masterstroke or mistake? | QCS

Creation of the CQC: Masterstroke or mistake?

Dementia Care
July 9, 2013

Once a masterstroke

In the wake of recent events that have put the CQC in the headlines, the regulator is under some scrutiny by the media and politicians.

Created by an Act of Parliament the CQC was formed in 2009. In what some once thought a masterstroke, the CQC brought health and social care regulation in England under one roof. The CQC consolidated the operations of the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission.

Certainly it is easy to see the logic of bringing health and social care regulation together. With the line between them becoming increasingly blurred, it is often difficult to see where healthcare ends and social care begins.

Actually a mistake

Naturally, consolidation produced the ability to eliminate duplication and the CQC’s funding was £164 million, less than the combined cost of the three former organisations. However, some are making the suggestion that what was once a masterstroke was actually a mistake.

Measured against the scale of the UK’s national economy, the CQC straddles a sector that is quite simply a behemoth. With almost 3 million employees in NHS England and the independent health and social care sector, the NHS 2013 budget is almost £109 billion and the value to the economy of the adult social care sector is put at £43bn.

Consequently the task for the CQC is enormous, regulating, registering and inspecting 23,000 organisations across 40,000 locations.

As regulatory failure seems to be increasingly associated with the CQC, the questions that are emerging seem to be about size: Is the CQC too big? Or is the sector too large for a single regulator?

Exceed the requirements with QCS

Whether the CQC is too big or it task is too enormous, the CQC’s regulatory framework is not in question. Care providers that observe the requirement for essential standards of quality and safety should be providing excellent levels of care.

The standards of care given by providers that achieve compliance by using the QCS system meet or exceed the CQC’s requirements. Click here to register for a FREE trial to see how QCS can enable your care home, home care service, dental or GP practice to exceed the compliance requirement.

Click here to see the National Development Team for Inclusion blog ‘CQC – 3 Big Reasons It Went Wrong; 3 Big Actions to Get It Right‘ at ndti.org.uk

Share: 

March 27, 2024
How Tiggo Care Evidences Caring Quality Statements
Read more
placeholder Image
March 20, 2024
Be Prepared! National Minimum Wage Changes – April 2024
Read more
placeholder Image
March 13, 2024
The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023
Read more