How is CQC ensuring safe, high quality and best value services during challenging

times?

Alan RosenbachSpecial Policy Lead, CQC

7th March 2011

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Role and remit – what does CQC do?

Single regulator for health and social care Focus on outcomes – we are informed by people’s experiencesRegister providers of care and monitor compliance with essential standards of quality and safetyTackle poor quality care using risk-based regulation, to reduce the likelihood of harmStrengthen safety and quality assurance using a common system of registration, compliance and enforcement across all sectorsSupport choice and promote accountability for publicly funded services by providing expert, independent informationReduce the costs and burden of regulation

Registration and compliance monitoring

Application made

Application assessed

Judgement made

Judgement published

Regulatory judgement

Regulatory response

Judgement on risk

Information capture

Information analysis

Ongoing monitoring of compliance

Registration application

The scale of regulated care

Primary medical services

9,000 providers

NHS hospitals

409 providers

Independent healthcare

1,500 providers

Adult social care

12,500 providers

Independent ambulances

200 providers

Primary dental care

8,000 providers

Combined outpatients and inpatients

77.4 million

People using adult social care services

1.75 million

Dental appointments

36.4 millionPlus additional c700 providers (bodies currently licensed HFEA and HTA)

How we gather evidence to monitor compliance

Looking at outcomes, a person’s experience of the care they receive

Involving people who use services in our reviews of compliance

Using a wide range of sources of evidence

Focusing on how care is delivered

Being targeted and responsive – taking swift action to follow up concerns

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Product development

Work in progress sketch

Syndication

•Linking to places where we know people research health and social care decisions and to providers themselves

Work in progress sketch

no discussions have taken place with Google yet

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So what does safe mean for CQC?

• CQC understands ‘safe care’ to be care delivered by a provider who is compliant with our essential standards

• Non-compliance does not mean unsafe – it means an increasing risk of care being unsafe. The more ‘non-compliant’ a provider is, the greater the risk – but non-compliant is not an absolute judgement on the quality of care on offer.

• Quality above ‘compliance’ is not CQC’s responsibility. This lies with providers and commissioners of care – Boards, managers, clinicians, commissioners, professionals……

Enforcement

• It is the duty of providers to ensure compliance at all times

• Should a provider not become compliant with the standards required, CQC can:

give a warning notice impose or vary conditions suspend registration on some services issue a fine prosecute or close a service by cancelling registration.

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Our aims for a new information scheme on quality

We are designing a new information scheme on adult social care quality, which we aim to begin in spring 2012

Our aim is to provide information about the quality of services to help people who use and commission them to make choices and decisions

We also hope to:

Motivate providers to improve the quality of care to give people using services the best possible outcomes and experiences

Reinforce the need for compliance with essential standards at all times

Recognise and reward services that are providing care of a higher quality

Questions

CQC – Helping make care better for people

Questions?

Alan Rosenbach, Special Policy Lead, CQC

alan.rosenbach@cqc.org.uk