Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission is a shadow Non-Departmental Public Body of the United Kingdom government. It began operating in shadow form on 1 October 2008.

Introduction

The regulation of health and adult social care in England is currently carried out by the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection. The Mental Health Act Commission has monitoring functions with regard to the operation of the Mental Health Act 1983.

The Health and Social Care Act 2008 [ [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080014_en_1 Office of Public Sector Information - Health and Social Care Act 2008] ] [ [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/pdf/ukpga_20080014_en.pdf Office of Public Sector Information - Health and Social Care Act 2008 (pdf)] ] will replace these three bodies and create a single, integrated regulator for health and adult social care - the Care Quality Commission [cite pressrelease | url = http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Legislation/Actsandbills/HealthandSocialCareBill/DH_080438 | publisher = Department of Health | date = 2007-11-16 | accessdate = 2008-09-16 | title = Care Quality Commission] . The Care Quality Commission will begin operating in April 2009 as a non-departmental public body.

Functions

The Act sets out the new Commission's functions in assuring safety and quality, performance assessment of commissioners and providers, monitoring the operation of the Mental Health Act and ensuring that regulation and inspection activity across health and adult social care is co-ordinated and managed.

The new system will enable a joined up regulation for health and social care, helping to ensure better outcomes for the people who use services. There are already many good examples of integrated health and social care delivery so the creation of a single regulatory system will fit with this.

Health and social care providers - including, for the first time, NHS providers - will be required to register with the new regulator in order to provide services (see below). The registration requirements that all providers must meet will be consistent across both health and adult social care and will be the subject of a forthcoming consultation. Focussing regulation on the levels of safety and quality that those who use services care most about will help ensure that patients, users and vulnerable groups are protected.

For staff working in provider organisations, the new regulatory system will provide a much clearer system of exactly which requirements they must meet in order to provide services. The risk-based approach means that regulation activity will be targeted where action is required.

The Act gives the Commission a wider range of enforcement powers along with flexibility on how, and when to use them. This will allow the regulator greater powers to achieve compliance with registration requirements - including requirements relating to infection control. The Commission will be able to apply specific conditions to respond to specific risks - such as requiring a ward or service to be closed until safety requirements met, as well as being able to suspend or de-register services where absolutely necessary.

Bringing the functions of the Mental Health Act Commission into the remit of the Care Quality Commission will strengthen the monitoring of the Mental Health Act, and offer increased oversight of the treatment of patients subject to compulsory detention.

Registration of care providers

All health and adult social care providers that come within the future scope of registration will be required to register with the Care Quality Commission. In order to be granted registration, care providers will need to demonstrate that they can meet, or are already meeting, the registration requirements. To maintain their registration they will need to demonstrate an ongoing ability to meet the requirements.

A registration system for social care and independent health providers already exists under the Care Standards Act 2000, but there is no such system for the NHS. The new registration system will incorporate providers from all sectors into a single system. In developing the new registration system and its requirements both the Government and the Care Quality Commission will build on the experience of the current commissions and service providers in operating under the existing system and against the current standards.

The Department of Health ran a consultation [cite web | url = http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Closedconsultations/DH_083625 | publisher = Department of Health | title = "The future regulation of health and adult social care in England: A consultation on the framework for the registration of health and adult social care providers" | date = 2008-03-25 | accessdate=2008-09-16] on which health and adult social care services should require registration with the Care Quality Commission; and what the requirements for registration should be. The consultation closed on 17 June 2008.

Board

Chair

On 15 May 2008, the Department of Health announced that Barbara Young, Baroness Young of Old Scone, had been appointed as shadow Chair of the Care Quality Commission [cite pressrelease | url = http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=367566&NewsAreaID=2 | publisher = Department of Health | date = 2008-05-15 | accessdate = 2008-09-16 | title = Care Quality Commission Chair announced] . The announcement followed an independent recruitment exercise conducted by the Appointments Commission and a pre-appointment scrutiny hearing by the Health Select Committee, which subsequently endorsed Barbara Young for appointment. Baroness Young was formerly the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency.

Chief Executive

On 22 July 2008, it was announced that Cynthia Bower had been appointed as the Commission's Chief Executive [cite pressrelease | url = http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?ReleaseID=374815&NewsAreaID=2 | publisher = Care Quality Commission | date = 2008-07-22 | accessdate = 2008-09-16 | title = Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission announced] . Cynthia Bower is currently Chief Executive of NHS West Midlands. Prior to this, she has held posts as Chief Executive of a community health trust and a primary care trust. In addition, she has had practical and managerial experience in children's services, policy development between health and social care in mental health, intermediate care for older adults and family support for children.

Commissioners

The first Commissioners were appointed to the board on 1 September 2008 [cite pressrelease | url = http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=377891&NewsAreaID=2 | title = Commissioners join the Care Quality Commission | publisher = Care Quality Commission | date = 2008-09-01 | accessdate = 2008-09-15] :

*Professor Deirdre Kelly
*Professor Lord Kamlesh Patel OBE
*Dame Jo Williams

References