CQC launch proposals for more flexible and responsive regulation – we want to hear your views

The COVID-19 pandemic has made health and social care services think differently and we are no exception. Following on from the consultation on our new strategy and ambitions launched earlier in January, we’re now proposing some specific changes that will enable us to deal with ongoing challenges from the pandemic and move us towards our ambition to be a more dynamic, proportionate and flexible regulator.

Our inspection reports and ratings give a view of quality that’s vital for the public, service providers and stakeholders. We want to introduce changes to allow us to assess and rate services more flexibly, so we can update our ratings more often, and make ratings easier to understand for everyone.

We are also proposing changes that will make our ratings for GP services and NHS trusts simpler and more relevant for people who use services. At the moment we are not proposing any changes to how we aggregate ratings in adult social care as part of this consultation.

Read more detail on these proposals and respond.

The way we currently consult and engage on any changes to our methods is a long process and means we can’t implement changes and tell our stakeholders about them quickly enough. We want to change this.

Going forward, we’ll hear people’s views constantly through a range of ways, making it easier for us to design solutions together with all our stakeholders in real time as we develop our future ways of regulating.

This means you’ll see fewer large-scale formal consultations, but more on-going opportunities to contribute as we’ll engage in different ways.

Ian Trenholm, Chief Executive, said; “The world of health and social care has changed significantly since we were established nearly a decade ago as an independent regulator – not least in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To continue to make sure we meet the needs of the people who use services and the providers we regulate, we need to change too.

“We’ve learned a lot from our response to the pandemic so far, and we’re using this to put us in a better place for the future and support services to keep people safe.

“Your views and feedback have been invaluable as we’ve developed our strategy. We’d also like to hear what you think of our proposals for more flexible and responsive regulation so we can make sure the changes we make work for everyone.”