Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Care Quality Commission processes to record, retrieve and act upon safety intelligence submitted by members of the public about NHS trust services previously rated as requires improvement.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has established systems and processes to receive, record, assess, and act on safety intelligence about providers submitted by members of the public, employees of registered providers, people using services and their family members and carers, and partner organisations.

All information of concern is reviewed and triangulated with inspection findings, provider-submitted data, and partner information. Where necessary, concerns are followed up directly with National Health Service trusts and incorporated into the CQC’s assessment of risk, informing decisions about further regulatory action.

The Department holds regular accountability meetings with the CQC to assess the CQC’s performance, including clearing a backlog of information of concern cases following technical issues.