Wes Streeting warned against trusting the CQC’s ratings on hospitals and care homes.
He described some ratings as "invented" and claimed there is evidence of manufacturing ratings using partial views and inspections.
Dr. Penny Dash’s review found that fewer inspections were carried out last year, with inspectors lacking experience.
Streeting ordered the publication of an interim report to improve regulation and transparency in the CQC.
Immediate steps include increased oversight, greater transparency in ratings, and a review of assessment frameworks to restore public confidence in the regulator.
Concerns have been raised about the reliability of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after an extraordinary warning was delivered by Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary. Mr. Streeting highlighted issues with the watchdog’s ratings on hospitals and care homes, describing some of them as ‘invented’ and ‘manufactured’. A review by Dr. Penny Dash revealed alarming findings, including that one in five care providers have never received a rating and some have not been inspected for a decade. Inspectors were found to lack experience, with some having never been in a hospital before or met a person with dementia. Urgent action is being called for to improve regulation and transparency within the CQC.
In response to the findings, Mr. Streeting has called for radical reform of the CQC. He emphasized the need for new leadership within the organization and increased oversight to restore public confidence. The interim report by Dr. Dash highlighted significant internal failings that hinder the CQC’s ability to identify poor performance, including too few inspections, a lack of clinical expertise among inspectors, and inconsistencies in assessments. Immediate steps will be taken by the government to address these issues and restore trust in the regulator, with a full report expected to be published in the autumn.
