9th January 2012 / Posted in: Care Quality Commission (CQC), Management, Operational management

Are the Care Quality Commission’s failings at Castlebeck just the tip of the iceberg?

At the beginning of October Panorama revealed that over 150,000 social care workers are paid less than the minimum wage.  The care industry employs over 2m people in the UK. It’s physically and mentally tough work, those receiving care are dependent on carers for many of their basic needs yet it’s poorly paid.  Many are paid the minimum wage, many little more, and a significant number are paid less as their employers exploit loop holes.

In November the media announced that Dr Foster had published a report which revealed that the death rates in NHS hospitals in England are higher at the weekend. Their report showed a correlation between highest mortality rates and the fewest senior doctors available.

Last month concerns were voiced as to whether the Government should do more to monitor the finances of companies operating in the care home sector needs following the collapse of Southern Cross earlier this year.

The regulatory body in England - the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has developed a document - the Essential Standards of Quality and Safety - which is used to evaluate whether registered health and social care providers in England are compliant with section 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Standards against which providers are evaluated include:

• staffing - there are sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, skilled and experienced persons, at all times, employed for carrying out the regulated activity
• financial position - the service provider must take all reasonable steps to provide the regulated activity in such a manner as to ensure the financial viability of delivering the service as defined  in their statement of purpose.

According to their website the CQC state that their job is ‘to check whether hospitals, care homes and care services are meeting government standards.’ Comparing these standards with the events reported in the press suggest that the CQC aren’t doing their job, and the failings at Castlebeck hospital in relation to mistreatment of residents have resulted in an investigation by officials at the Department of Health and NHS Management. 

Whilst the regulated health and social care providers have exacting standards they are required to meet, how does the CQC demonstrate it meets standards required by a regulator? Previous healthcare regulators of the independent healthcare sector - the Healthcare Commission and National Care Standards Commission struggled with service standards and inconsistency between inspectors.  Is Castlebeck just the tip of the iceberg and has anything be learned by the mistakes of the CQC’s predecessors?

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