09.09.14
First independent hospitals to be inspected under new CQC model
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has identified eight independent hospitals to be inspected under its new regulatory approach.
As part of the CQC’s new inspection system for the independent healthcare system, providers will be awarded ratings – for the first time – from April 2015. The ratings are: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.
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.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals at CQC, said that the initial eight hospitals to be inspected vary in size and in the number and type of services they provide, including both NHS-funded care and solely private care.
The eight providers are:
- The Lister Hospital, London
- The London Welbeck Hospital, London
- Baddow Hospital, Essex
- Spire Southampton Hospital, Hampshire
- BMI Mount Alvernia, Surrey
- Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre, Devon
- Oaklands Hospital, Salford
- Nuffield Health Tees hospital, County Durham
CQC stated that the first new style inspections will allow it to test its new model in different independent hospital settings. It added that they will also help refine how the regulator inspects this sector and help it develop a rating system.
The first inspections will take place from October to December 2014, and will include announced and unannounced elements and may include inspections in the evenings and weekends when the CQC knows people can experience poor care.
The core services being inspected will follow the same approach as in the NHS to include: surgery; including cosmetic surgery, urgent care services, medical care, children and young people’s care and outpatients.
Sir Mike 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 healthcare, which is good news for people who use services, as it will help people to make informed decisions about their care.”
The CQC’s inspection teams will include clinicians from the NHS and the independent sector, CQC inspectors and members of the public who are “experts by experience”.
Where there are failures in care, Sir Mike stated that the CQC 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.
The signposting document ‘A fresh start for the regulation of independent healthcare’ is available, here.
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