Autumn will welcome our public consultation on the changes we are proposing to our assessment framework. We have spent several months working with thousands of providers, stakeholders, people who use services and colleagues to explore what needs to change.
We have used that time to listen, share and co-design the future of regulation with the people who live it. While there are lots of different experiences, the conversations we have had have revealed strong consensus. It is clear that you want a regulatory system that works with you, is transparent, proportionate and is rooted in real-world experience. This is not a big bang change. It is a phased, co-designed evolution – guided by insight, grounded in evidence and shaped by the reality of health and care delivery. We will continue to work with stakeholders, providers and people who use services to make improvements and developments to our approach well into the new year and beyond.
Welcoming new colleagues
We now have four new Chief Inspectors. Dr Arun Chopra joined as the first Chief Inspector of Mental Health; Professor Bola Owolabi joined as Chief Inspector of Primary and Community Care; and Dr Toli Onon and Chris Badger both started their roles as Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and Integrated Care respectively. The Chief Inspectors are leading the repositioning of our assessment frameworks to their sectors, supporting a realignment of our regulatory activity.
Alongside the work on our assessment framework is the work my team and I are doing to determine the next phases of activity for our local authority assessments. We are on track to complete our initial assessments by the Spring. This phase will establish a baseline of quality across all 153 local authorities in England of how well they are meeting their requirements under Part 1 of the Care Act.
Using all the insight we have gathered we are exploring with a range of stakeholders, including providers, what our ongoing programme of local authority assessment should look like. We will consider internal learning and evaluation, along with feedback including independent reports published by Dr Penny Dash, Sir Mike Richards and the Care Provider Alliance. We will be considering the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, local government reform, the Secretary of State’s priorities and what we have learned from other agencies, including Ofsted. All this will inform a proposal to the Department of Health and Social Care. The Secretary of State will then consider the next steps for this programme of work after baselining is finished.
Leadership is key
One great privilege of my part in our local authority assessment work has been to see the positive impact that well-led organisations can have. Analysis of our assessment reports by the Local Government Association identified that what ‘Good’ looks like included visible and engaged leadership driving improvement and coproduction with people who draw on services, ensuring that feedback informs strategy. Reflecting on our own organisational journey over the last year, I see this clearly from CQC colleagues, too. Our visible leadership, open co-production and intentional engagement is signalling our commitment to improvement.
Services in the spotlight
Finally, I value every opportunity to shine a light on outstanding practice that my colleagues and I have seen during our regulatory activity. At Positive Steps Shropshire, we found staff and leaders not only provided people with excellent care but also went above and beyond to help people remain independent and achieve their goals and ambitions. Whether it is care being delivered in one person’s home, the delivery of services across a local authority, or indeed the activity of the regulator of health and care for the whole of England, positive, active leadership coupled with a real understanding of people’s wants and needs remains central to providing effective care.
What are your priorities for the CQC this Autumn? Leave a comment on this column or join the conversation to share your thoughts.
Mary Cridge is Director of Adult Social Care at the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Email: [email protected] X:@CQCProf