Care Quality Commission failing, say MPs
Published on 30 March 2012 11:00 AM
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) should not be allowed to take on new responsibilities as it has failed to develop measures by which to judge quality.
That is according to a scathing report by MPs, which slammed the CQC for failing to perform its role effectively.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said the Commission had been 'poorly governed and led', as the Department for Health, which oversees the CQC, had failed to take action until was clear it had been 'struggling for some time'.
The report also said the CQC had neglected inspections in favour of the registration of care homes and hospitals.
Criticism has been heaped on the CQC since it came to light last year that it failed to respond to whistle-blowers' warnings of abuse of residents at the Winterbourne View home in Bristol.
The MPs said it was 'astonishing' that - almost three years after its creation in 2009 - the CQC had not even developed measures by which to judge quality.
As such, the cross-party committee maintains the CQC should not be allowed to take over the functions of watchdogs which regulate fertility treatment and human tissue, planned to go ahead in 2015.
The report also warned the watchdog would be reduced to little more thank a 'postbox' role, as plans to register 10,000 GP practices between September 2012 and April 2013 would see surgeries asked to assess for themselves whether they were compliant with quality and safety standards.
Copyright Press Association 2012