Health watchdog “not fit for purpose” as new review highlights CQC’s significant failings

The UK’s Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has said that England’s health and social care watchdog is “not fit for purpose”, pledging immediate action to restore public confidence.

The health and social care watchdog are responsible for regulating the NHS and care services across the country. Streeting's intervention comes after an independent review found significant failings at the Care Quality Commission (CQC), according to headline findings released by the government.

The CQC inspects everything from hospitals and general practitioner (GP) practices through to care homes and dental surgeries, covering 90,000 different services in the UK.

The review, led by Dr Penny Dash, Chairwoman of the North West London Integrated Care Board, found some organisations had not been reinspected for several years, with the oldest rating for an NHS hospital dating from more than 10 years ago.

Among the failings identified were:

• Inspectors lacking the necessary experience – including some being asked to inspect hospitals without ever having been into one before.
• Care home inspectors who had never met a person with dementia.
• A backlog of assessments with one in five services never having been given a rating – this is thought to include new care providers, GPs and private health clinics that have opened in the last five years.
• A lack of consistency with assessments.

Streeting said he was “stunned by the extent of the failings” revealed in the report. He said the organisation must put in place a new chief executive and chief inspector of hospitals to oversee “radical” reform, adding that “leadership is vital”.

Emma Doughty, National and London Head of Medical Negligence at Slater and Gordon, has been working alongside families and clients to achieve justice for those who have received poor treatment within the NHS. She says: “The news that CQC has been found to have several significant failings doesn’t come as a shock in the current climate of what we are seeing in the NHS.

“Slater and Gordon are the leading law firm for Operation Bramber, where nine bereaved families lost babies due to failings in the Trust’s maternity care at University Hospitals Sussex, and where investigations into substandard care in other departments are also ongoing.

“The University Hospitals Sussex was recently found to have paid out over £58 million in damages to settled claims against them for maternity negligence alone between 2019 and 2023. That’s the highest amount anywhere in the country. We’re getting first-hand accounts from those who have been let down by NHS care.

“Adult and maternity care are struggling in the UK. We’re seeing a direct link between the failings of care providers and the number of clients coming to us for clinical negligence. We’re deeply concerned, because patients deserve better.”

Streeting continued: “I know this will be a worrying development for patients and families who rely on CQC assessments when making choices about their care. I want to reassure them that I am determined to grip this crisis and give people the confidence that the care they’re receiving has been assessed. This Government will never turn a blind eye to failure.”

In the wake of the report, the Department of Health and Social Care announced immediate steps to restore public confidence in the CQC, which is appointing Professor Sir Mike Richards, a former hospital physician and its first chief inspector of hospitals, to review its assessment framework and hopefully implement change.

Dr Dash interviewed over 200 senior NHS staff and carers along with over 50 people who work for the CQC to draw up her interim findings. The final report will be published in the upcoming autumn.

To speak with Emma Doughty directly about a clinical negligence claim for yourself or a loved one, contact her at emma.doughty@slatergordon.uk or 0330 995 5571.