The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the regulator that monitors and inspects health and social care services provided in GP surgeries, hospitals, care homes and many other settings. The culmination of the process leads to an inspection report and ratings which are published on the CQC website.
The CQC recently consulted on changes to the rating system and how it will in future consult when making changes to its processes. The regulator monitors and inspects many settings that pharmacists practice in, these include GP surgeries, hospitals and care homes. In light of the pandemic and also in light of anticipated major Government changes to NHS and social care structures, the CQC is proposing major changes to its inspection/rating systems.
The CQC proposes to review and revise ratings based on a number of factors including “artificial intelligence” which may not require an in-situ inspection. Instead, it says “we’ll be able to use the expertise and professional judgement of our inspectors in a more flexible way” to arrive at the ratings. It plans to publish a framework to enable these changes but this is still in development.
The PDA view is that before changes to the rating system are made, the CQC should first publish details about the tests it has carried out using “artificial intelligence” which will underpin the new inspection/rating systems.
In addition, the CQC also proposes to “simplify” the published ratings for both GP practices and hospital trusts. It says it is proposing to do this to make it “easier to understand, more relevant and accessible for health and care providers and people who use services.”
The PDA is concerned that a desire to “simplify” may result in the loss of important details. It may also miss specific areas which need improvement or are a cause of patient concern.
The PDA also noted the concerns expressed by the Royal College of General Practitioners about the existing inspection process and concerns about bias within this and the lack of follow-through on ensuring settings (such as hospital trusts) fulfil their diversity obligations.
Read the full PDA response here
Download the consultation document here
The consultation closed on 04/03/2021.