26.04.17
Review urges CQC board to ‘revisit purpose’ to run more efficiently
The CQC has been told to reassess the role of its board by an independent review that found large discrepancies in opinions between members about the purpose of directors sitting on the executive board.
The board was also recommended to “revisit its role” as a survey revealed that a number of executive members did not feel they worked with non-executive members in a unified way.
Asked whether the board operated as a unitary board, while seven non-executive members said they ‘strongly agreed, ‘agreed’ or ‘slightly agreed’, six executive members reported that they ‘disagreed’ with the statement.
Members were also asked whether the distinction between executive and non-executive members of the board was clearly understood. Though almost all the non-executive members reported that they agreed, half of executive members reported that the distinction was not clearly understoond by members of the board.
Researchers from Deloitte, who the CQC commissioned to undertake a review into the effectiveness of the board, wrote: “There are a number of behaviours, however, that we have observed and that have been described to us that we believe are not necessarily consistent with operating as an effective unitary board.
“We noted a propensity for board members to confine their contributions largely to their own portfolio or area of expertise. There is a need for board members to behave more consistently with the expectations of a corporate director on a unitary board.”
However, researchers did find that on the whole, the board was run effectively by members who were talented and committed.
The findings, from the CQC’s board papers, stated: “Board members bring significant levels of experience and are recognised as experts and leaders in their respective fields.
“It is recognised that the current mix of skills and diversity of board members will need to continue to evolve to support the implementation of the recently revised corporate strategy.”