Professor Sir Mike Richards, CQC Chief Inspector of Hospitals, has identified eight hospitals that are going to be inspected under our new inspection approach.
The first new style inspections will happen from October 2014. This will allow us to test out our new model in different independent hospital settings. We will expect to receive equivalent performance information from providers to what we receive from NHS hospitals.
About the inspections
Our new regulatory approach for the independent health care sector means that, for the first time, these providers will be awarded ratings from April 2015. This means there will also be a significant increase in access to information that will help people who use the services to make decisions about their care.
The inspections will include announced and unannounced elements and may include inspections in the evenings and weekends when we know people can experience poor care.
These first inspections will help us refine the way we inspect this sector and help us develop a rating system. We will begin to issue ratings for private hospitals in 2015.
The core services being inspected will follow the same approach as in the NHS. These core services include:
- surgery, including cosmetic surgery.
- urgent care services.
- medical care.
- children and young people’s care.
- outpatients.
Each inspection seeks to answer five questions - is the service:
- safe?
- caring?
- effective?
- well-led?
- responsive to people’s needs?
The eight hospitals are...
- Baddow Hospital, Essex
- BMI Mount Alvernia, Surrey
- The Lister Hospital, London
- The London Welbeck Hospital, London
- Nuffield Health Tees hospital, County Durham
- Oaklands Hospital, Salford
- Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre, Devon
- Spire Southampton Hospital, Hampshire
Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals, said: “We need to hold the independent sector to the same standard as the NHS.
“As we have seen in the NHS, these new-style inspections will allow us to get under the skin of the organisation to give us a much more detailed picture of independent hospital care in England than ever before.
“We are significantly increasing public access to information on independent health care, which is good news for people who use services, as it will help people to make informed decisions about their care.”
Where there are failures in care, Sir Mike will highlight what needs to be addressed and will ask the hospitals to make sure a clear programme is put in place to deal with any problems.
More information
Read the document below to find out more about how we plan to inspect independent (private) hospitals.
We are significantly increasing public access to information on independent health care, which is good news for people who use services...
Professor Sir Mike Richards