THE LOOP
CQC consults on its future role – a lawyer’s perspec On 7th January 2021, CQC published a consultation paper on its proposed strategy for the next five years: The world of health and social care is changing. So are we. It is due to run until 5pm on 4th March. It is based around four themes: • People and communities. • Smarter regulation. • Safety through learning. • Accelerating improvement. Running through each of these themes is a welcome commitment to tackle health inequalities and a desire to hold local systems to account given “It’s not enough to look at how one service operates in isolation.” 0018
The Health and Care White Paper reinforces this system level oversight by proposing CQC regulates local authorities in terms of how they discharge their duties under the Care Act 2014 in relation to adult social services. The document contains a good deal of rhetoric, and is short on specifics, so the sector will have to see what transpires when CQC provides its response to the consultation around May. However, what is proposed is a radical shift in the way CQC regulates the care sector which to a large degree is informed by the new remote and virtual ways of working that CQC has had to adopt during the pandemic. CQC wants its new approach to be targeted and dynamic, moving away from a set schedule of inspections. “We’ll change our assessments to be more dynamic, and update ratings more often, so that everybody will have an upto-date view of quality.”
