The Care Quality Commision Has Landed

Monday, 13th April 2009

The new independent regulator for the health and social care industry in England 'The Care Quality Commission' (CQC) has officially arrived. As from 1 April 2009 'The Healthcare Commission', 'The Mental Health Act Commission' and the 'Commission for Social Care Inspection' no longer exist - these have all been replaced by the CQC.

The main duties of the CQC are to:

Register health and social care providers ensuring they meet essential common standards.
Monitor and inspect all health and adult social care settings.
Use enforcement powers, such as fines and public warnings or closures, if standards are not being met.
Improve health and social care services by undertaking regular reviews of how well those that arrange and provide services locally are performing, and special reviews on particular care services, pathways of care or themes where there are particular concerns about quality.
Report the outcomes of their work so that people who use the services have information about the quality of their local health and adult social care services. It will help thoe who arrange and provide services to see where improvements are needed and to learn from each other about what works best.

For more detailed information on the roles and responsibilities of The Care Quality Commission please visit www.cqc.org.uk