2012 Accountability Hearing with the Care Quality Commission

Book excerpt: The failures of Care Quality Commission (CQC) prompted the Department of Health to undertake a performance and capability review which produced a wide range of recommendations. The decision by CQC board member Kay Sheldon to give evidence as a whistleblower added to the controversy. She identified serious failings within the management, organisation, functions and culture of the CQC and it is unacceptable that the CQC failed to address and act on them before she felt compelled to approach the public inquiry. It is clear from the evidence presented by the CQC's outgoing Chair, Jo Williams, and recently appointed Chief Executive, David Behan, that the regulator is aware of the reforms that must be implemented. The CQC's primary focus should be on ensuring that the essential standards it enforces can be interpreted by the public as a guarantee of acceptable standards in care. The CQC's essential standards in their current form do not succeed in this objective. Equally, the CQC must be far more diligent in communicating the outcomes of inspections, especially to residents in social care and their immediate family. In the long-term, the CQC has a role to play in facilitating a culture of challenge and response across health and social care so that identifying and addressing failings becomes a standard process for staff and management. Providers must support staff in raising concerns in order for those staff to meet their own professional duties. Those organisations who fail in this obligation should be refused registration by the CQC.