The Care Quality Commission

Abstract

Box 1 The regulation and oversight of healthcare in England has long been deemed to be overly convoluted, with responsibilities for regulating particular aspects of care split across a number of different bodies, including Monitor and the Care Quality Commission. The Health and Social Care Bill has recently reinforced the Care Quality Commission’s role as the quality regulator for health and social care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) began operating in April 2009, replacing three commissions: the Healthcare Commission (until 2008, which launched 15 investigations over its 5 year history), the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission. It is an executive non-departmental body which is funded through a combination of registration fees and government grants. It independently registers and regulates all providers of health and adult social care in England. This means that its main role is to ensure that the care provided by hospitals, dentists, ambulances, care homes and services in people’s own homes meets government standards of quality and safety. It does this by licencing services which meet standards set by the CQC, checkingwhether they continue to do so and taking actionwhen the standards are not met. The CQC makes sure that the voices of people who use health and adult social care services are considered by asking people to share their experiences of services. These views are incorporated into its reports and reviews.