25 June 2009
The Care Quality Commissions has welcomed Joan Bakewell's comments made last night at the launch of the Care Quality Commission's Voices in to Action initiative, where CQC chiefs pledged to listen to "the quiet voices" of people who use health and adult social care services, after the launch of the regulator's involvement charter.
About 80 voluntary, charitable and statutory organisations were represented at a launch event in London on 24 June.
They heard from guest speaker Dame Joan Bakewell, the broadcaster and writer, who was appointed the Voice of Older People by the Government last November.
Dame Joan welcomed CQC's charter, Voices into Action, which she said was desperately needed. She talked about her involvement in a recent BBC Panorama television programme that revealed the failings of several home-care agencies, which she described as "truly shocking".
She said many older people were timid and confused, were used to being ignored, and feared they would be victimised if they spoke up. She declared: "I am here to make a noise for elderly people."
Another speaker was Tina Coldham, a former user of mental health services for 17 years, who now takes part in CQC inspections as an ‘expert by experience'. She said that if organisations representing people who use services can work in ‘co-production' with the regulator there is a real chance of improving care services.
CQC's Chairman, Barbara Young, and Chief Executive, Cynthia Bower, both pledged their commitment to Voices into Action.
Afterwards, Frances Hasler, the Commission's Head of Involvement, said: "Voices into Action is about listening to the quiet voices as well as the louder ones. We are committed to finding ways of listening to those voices and amplifying them.
"We have heard lots of experiences from people at this event, and challenges to CQC about making user involvement real. People want us to work with them to improve services, and to act to put things right when they go wrong. We are determined to keep working to do just that - make it real and make it effective".
CQC is now preparing a detailed plan for how it will implement Voices into Action, including how it will assess how well providers of services are involving people. It will report yearly on the progress that has been made.
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Notes to editors
About the CQC: Snippet for press releases
About the Care Quality Commission
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.
We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.
We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.