Lincolnshire Care Association Chair welcomes report into the CQC

A leading carer says the Care Quality Commission is currently ‘not fulfilling the role’ of a regulator.

Chair of Lincolnshire Care Association Melanie Weatherley is calling on the Government to give social care the same level of attention as the NHS when looking at improvements for the CQC.

New Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has today branded the regulator of hospitals, medical centres and care homes as ‘not fit for purpose’ after a series of issues were highlighted in a report by Dr Penny Dash. These include a lack of experience among inspectors and some locations not having a rating.

Mrs Weatherley said: “We welcome the interim report from Dr Penny Dash, and as a representative of care providers we have been raising concerns about the CQC for a number of months.

"We recognise the need for an effective regulator and at the moment it feels like the CQC does not fulfil this role.

"Many care providers have never been inspected, despite operating for years, and the reliance on an algorithm for assessing services can lead to ratings that don't accurately reflect the current quality of care.

"As a sector we welcomed the Single Assessment Framework with its focus on quality and user experience, but its implementation has left us disappointed.

"The Digital Portal does not work consistently which causes anxiety, particularly for small and medium sized providers, who cannot communicate information that they are required to.

"And finally, the response from the DHSC and the CQC has been heavily focused on NHS providers and we need the care sector to be addressed with the same level of attention."

Earlier this week, issues with social care was highlighted by former Holbeach councillor Graham Rudkin who is facing the prospect of selling assets in order to pay for the care of his wife Carol after their NHS funding had run out.

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