IHPN responds to Dr Dash's final report into the CQC

Responding to the publication of Dr Penny Dash’s final review into the Care Quality Commission (CQC), David Hare, Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), said:

“A strong independent regulator is an absolutely vital part of the healthcare landscape – providing both patients and the health system as a whole an informed and objective assessment of healthcare provision.

“We therefore welcome Dr Penny Dash’s final report into the CQC which rightly sets out both the importance and urgency of improving the regulator’s performance. This includes not only the need to deliver its fundamental role of carrying out timely inspections of services and the ability to update ratings effectively, but also how to more effectively assess new and innovative service models that are emerging.

“Moreover, with a health system currently under huge strain and in desperate need of new capacity, Dr Dash’s review makes clear that CQC must urgently prioritise clearing the unacceptable backlog in registrations of new health and care providers – helping enable new resources to be brought to local communities and improve patient access to care.

“Dr Dash’s review sets a clear roadmap to getting the CQC back on track, and it is now of utmost importance to patients, providers and commissioners of services that CQC works at pace to implement these necessary changes. IHPN looks forward to working with its new leadership team as they seek to turn the organisation around and re-establish the CQC as a regulator that both patients and healthcare providers can have confidence in.

“We also look forward to contributing to Dr Dash’s forthcoming review of the wider patient safety landscape to ensure it meets the needs of patients and the healthcare system as a whole.”