Andrea Sutcliffe CBE, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has announced she will be departing at the end of this year to take up a new appointment as Chief Executive and Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in January 2019.
Celebrating five years as CQC’s first ever Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care following her appointment in October 2013, Andrea has been an inspirational leader in transforming CQC’s approach for registering, monitoring, inspecting and rating over 21,000 adult social care services across England.
Andrea is known for championing the ‘Mum Test’ in the regulation of adult social care to ensure CQC’s focus is on what matters most to people using services. She was instrumental in bringing together a coalition of organisations and national bodies in 2017 for the launch of ‘Quality matters’.
Over the last year Andrea has kept up her challenge and support to the sector by playing an important role in CQC’s local system reviews and simplifying and strengthening the way CQC regulates adult social care services as part of CQC’s next phase approach.
Her commitment to adult social care was recognised in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List with the award of a CBE.
Andrea Sutcliffe CBE said: "I am very sad to be leaving CQC after five challenging but very rewarding years. It has been a great privilege to be the first Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and I would like to thank everyone for their support. Working with colleagues across the organisation, past and present, and in coproduction with the public, providers and our partners we have achieved a great deal in the last five years. There will always be more to do, but I know that the strong team I work with will continue to drive improvement for people who use services, and I am confident that with Ian and Peter at the helm the CQC will continue to go from strength to strength."
Peter Wyman, Chair of the Care Quality Commission, said: "To say that Andrea made the role of Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care her own is an understatement – she is the first person to hold this role and in it, she has used her passion and commitment to make a real difference to people’s care. She has championed people who use adult social care, called out poor care and celebrated good care. The phrase she coined, the ‘Mum Test’: is this care good enough for your mum? – really spoke to people as a meaningful assessment of quality that was also very personal. She will be much missed but I congratulate the Nursing and Midwifery Council on an outstanding appointment."
Ian Trenholm, Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission, said: "I have enjoyed working with Andrea enormously. On a professional level her focus and insight make her an exceptionally valuable member of the Executive team, and on a personal level she has been incredibly welcoming to me in my new role as Chief Executive. Her commitment to ensuring the voice of people who use services is heard has been instrumental in driving improvements in care and she has helped to push the challenges faced by the sector into the public consciousness. I’m very sorry she is leaving – but delighted that she is going to such an exciting and influential new role."
The recruitment process for Andrea’s successor will begin shortly.
ENDS
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