CQC ‘needs to do more to earn public confidence’

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has been accused of failing to properly earn the confidence of the public in its ability to uphold acceptable standards in care and patient safety.

A report from the Health Select Committee stated that the regulator has not yet successfully defined its core purpose, despite sustained criticism over a long period of time.

Though it acknowledged that improvements have been made in recent years, the committee took the view that not enough has been done to ensure that its inspections represent a challenging process and that feedback is acknowledged and acted upon swiftly enough.

It stated that the CQC needs to be more diligent about promptly communicating the outcomes of its inspections directly to relevant parties, while ensuring it does more to address issues raised by its own management.

Committee chair Stephen Dorrell said it is vital for the CQC to "overhaul its governance structures to ensure the board sets clear objectives for the organisation, holds the executive effectively to account against these objectives and regularly assesses its own performance and effectiveness".

CQC chief executive David Behan responded to the findings by affirming the organisation's commitment to improvement, openness and accountability.