Quality regulation - NHS Providers

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<div class="SiteContainer"> <article class="SiteMain SiteMain--article SiteMain--hasAside"> <div class="contentHeaderContainer"> <h2 class="h2c">Quality regulation</h2> </div> <p><span class="SiteMain-articleIntroduction">Quality regulation has risen up the agenda following some major failings in care in recent years.<span> As a result, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates all health and social care services in England, has undergone significant reform. The CQC sets the fundamental standards of quality and safety for healthcare services and monitors and inspects providers to ensure standards are upheld. This page provides an overview of the CQC's regulatory model and the key elements providers should be aware of. </span></span></p> <h3 class="h3d">Care Quality Commission</h3> <p>All providers of NHS services are required to register with the CQC and meet the <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/fundamental-standards" target="_blank">fundamental standards</a> of quality and safety for healthcare services. The CQC monitors, inspects and regulates these providers' core services to ensure they consistently meet the fundamental standards and do not put patients at risk of harm. Where a provider falls below these standards, the CQC is able to take enforcement action or recommend that the provider should enter <a rel="noopener" href="http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/special-measures" target="_blank">special measures</a>.</p> <p>The CQC regularly inspects providers by location and service, and awards ratings based on what it finds. Inspection teams typically include experts by experience (people who are experienced users of healthcare services) and specialist advisors (health professionals external to the organisation being inspected). The CQC completed its first round of comprehensive inspections of NHS foundation trusts and trusts in 2016 and has now published its five year strategy for 2016-21, which sets out how it intends to take forward its activities in the future.</p> <blockquote class="u-right orange-text blockquote--alt"> <img src="/images/quote-mark.svg" alt="Quote mark" /> <span> We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve. </span> <span class="blockquote-title"> Care Quality Commission </span> </blockquote> <p>As part of its strategy, the CQC is reviewing its approach to monitoring risk within providers. The proposed CQC Insights model will use qualitative and quantitative data to identify concerns with the quality of services and determine where the regulator targets its resources, including when and where to inspect. In addition, the CQC has committed to assessing its impact and value for money on an on-going basis and to support new ways of delivering care.</p> <p>Following an inspection, providers will receive a report on the findings, including examples of good practice and any areas for improvement, and will be awarded an overall rating as well as individual ratings for each service and location inspected. <br><br>The CQC inspects against five key questions: are services safe; are they responsive; are they caring; are they effective and are they well-led? In each domain, providers will receive one of the following ratings:</p> <ul> <li>outstanding</li> <li>good</li> <li>requires improvement</li> <li>inadequate</li> </ul> <p>Providers have an opportunity to ‘fact check’ the report and inform the CQC of any factual inaccuracies prior to its publication. Following the publication of the inspection report, providers may also request a ‘rating review’ if they feel that the CQC did not follow due process for making and aggregating ratings decisions. Providers are required to display their overall ratings at all sites where they deliver services.</p> <p>The CQC provides sector-specific <a href="https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance">guidance</a> which outline how it regulates and inspects services across each of the sectors it regulates.</p> <div class="SharePanel"> <ul> <li class="SharePanel-item SharePanel-item--twitter"> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3a%2f%2fnhsproviders.org%2ftopics%2fquality%2fquality-regulation&text=Quality+regulation;" target="_blank" onclick="ga('send', 'event', { eventCategory: 'Social Icons', eventAction: 'Share', eventLabel: 'Twitter'});">Twitter</a> </li> <li class="SharePanel-item SharePanel-item--linkedIn"> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3a%2f%2fnhsproviders.org%2ftopics%2fquality%2fquality-regulation&title=Quality+regulation" target="_blank" onclick="ga('send', 'event', { eventCategory: 'Social Icons', eventAction: 'Share', eventLabel: 'LinkedIn'});">LinkedIn</a> </li> <li class="SharePanel-item SharePanel-item--print"> <a href="#" onclick="window.print(); ga('send', 'event', { eventCategory: 'Social Icons', eventAction: 'Share', eventLabel: 'Print' });">Print</a> </li> </ul> </div> </article> <aside class="Aside"> <nav class="TertiaryNav"> <ul> <li class="TertiaryNav-item TertiaryNav-item--active"><a href="/topics/quality/quality-regulation">Quality regulation</a></li> </ul> </nav> <article class="RelatedArticles"> <h3>Related articles</h3> <a href="/resources/submissions/cqc-next-phase-of-regulation-consultation" class="card 1375 1246"> <div class="card__bar nhsp-00a89c"></div> <div class="card__label"> <div class="card__label-category nhsp-00a89c"> Submission </div> <div class="card__label-date nhsp-00a89c light"> 14 Feb 2017 </div> </div> <div class="card__text"> <h4>CQC next phase of regulation consultation</h4> <p>Our response to the recent CQC consultation</p> </div> </a> <a href="/resources/submissions/cqc-and-nhs-improvement-consultation-on-use-of-resources-and-well-led-assessments" class="card 1375 1246"> <div class="card__bar nhsp-00a89c"></div> <div class="card__label"> <div class="card__label-category nhsp-00a89c"> Submission </div> <div class="card__label-date nhsp-00a89c light"> 14 Feb 2017 </div> </div> <div class="card__text"> <h4>CQC and NHS Improvement consultation on use of resources and well led assessments</h4> <p>See our submission to the recent joint consultation from the CQC and NHS Improvement</p> </div> </a> <a href="/resources/submissions/cqc-regulatory-fees-for-201718" class="card 1375 1246"> <div class="card__bar nhsp-00a89c"></div> <div class="card__label"> <div class="card__label-category nhsp-00a89c"> Submission </div> <div class="card__label-date nhsp-00a89c light"> 11 Jan 2017 </div> </div> <div class="card__text"> <h4>CQC Regulatory Fees for 2017/18</h4> <p>Our response to the CQC's proposals for its 2017/18 regulatory fees</p> </div> </a> </article> </aside> </div> <footer class="SiteFooter"> <div class="ToTopPanel"> <div class="ToTopPanel-container"> <div class="ToTopPanel-button"> <a href="#" aria-label="Go to top" class="Icon-Arrow-Up"></a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="SiteFooter-Container"> <div class="SiteFooter-Right"> <div class="SiteFooter-Social"> <div class="FooterSocialLinks-Item FooterSocialLinks-Item--LinkedIn"> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/nhsproviders" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">LinkedIn</a> </div> <div class="FooterSocialLinks-Item FooterSocialLinks-Item--Twitter"> <a href="https://www.twitter.com/nhsproviders" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Twitter</a> </div> <div class="FooterSocialLinks-Item FooterSocialLinks-Item--YouTube"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/NHSProviders" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">YouTube</a> </div> </div> <div class="SiteFooter-Cookies"> <a class="js-manage-cookies" href="#">Manage cookies</a> </div> </div> <div class="SiteFooter-Left"> <h3>NHS Providers</h3> <nav class="FooterNav"> <ul> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/news-blogs">News & blogs</a></li> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/topics">Topics</a></li> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/annual-events">Annual events</a></li> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/resources">Resources</a></li> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/development-offer">Development offer</a></li> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/partnerships">Partnerships</a></li> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/about-us">About us</a></li> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/news-blogs/press-office">Press office</a></li> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/contact-us">Contact us</a></li> <li class="FooterNav-item"><a href="/privacy-policy-and-cookies">Privacy policy and cookies</a></li> </ul> </nav> <div class="SiteFooter-contact"> Address: 157-197 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 9SP <br /><br /> Tel: 020 3973 5999 | Email: enquiries@nhsproviders.org </div> </div> </div> </footer> <footer class="SiteSubFooter"> <div class="SiteContainer"> <div class="SiteSubFooter-copyright">© NHS Providers 2024</div> <div class="SiteSubFooter-charity">Registered Charity 1140900 | Registered in England No 07525114</div> </div> </footer> <div class="cookie-notification js-cookie-notification"> <div class="container cookie-notification--wrapper"> <h4>Cookie preferences</h4> <p>We use cookies and reporting technology to ensure we offer you the best experience across our website and analyse our traffic. 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