Throughout your training you will at various times hear the mention of the CQC and you may have a vague idea of who they are, and what they do.

The CQC (Care Quality Commission) is an independent regulator of health and social care in England.

‘The purpose of the CQC is to ensure that health and social care services provides people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.’

The CQC was made up of three departments who merged. They were the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission.

The CQC carries out checks on hospitals, care homes, general practices and dental surgeries along with other care establishments in England to ensure that they are providing people with high-quality care which is also safe and effective.

Checks are carried out at the time when an organisation registers with the CQC. All new care practises must do this. The CQC checks are made by inspection and monitoring to make sure that there are no problems with the service which is offered.

The CQC also protects the interests of people who have mental health issues and are restricted under the Mental Health Act.

When checking an establishment, the CQC will raise five questions:

 

• Is it safe, while protecting people from abuse and avoidable harm?
• Is it effective, with care, treatment and support achieving good outcomes, promoting good quality of life, and being evidence-based wherever possible?
• Is it caring, with staff involving people and treating them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect?
• Is it responsive, with services organised in such a way as to meet people’s individual needs?
• Is it well-led, with leadership, management and governance asserting the delivery of high-quality person-centred care, supporting learning and innovation, and promoting an open and fair culture?

For inspections and judgements to be unbiased and effective the CQC uses a mandatory set of questions for each organisation. These are called Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs). The reason for this is to improve the levels of consistency of the inspections.

The CQC monitors, inspects and then rates the organisation. They will act to protect people who use their services and they publish their viewpoints on any major quality issues in the health system.

The CQC strives to:

 

• protect the rights of vulnerable people. This includes anyone who is restricted under the Mental Health Act.
• listen to anyone who reports on an issue.
• involve both the public and people who receive care.
• work together with public groups and other organisations. 
• set out the difference between good and outstanding care and ensure that organisations meet fundamental standards.
• act against the organisation, the care worker or both when standards are not being met.

To sum up

The CQC monitors, inspects and regulates services to ensure that they meet standards of quality and safety.

They work with the public to ensure that these standards are maintained. They publish the ratings of individual organisations and their performance levels.

Hospitals, doctors and dentists, care homes, ambulances, and mental health services need to be registered with the CQC and rated to ensure that the public always receives the best care.

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