Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to ensure Care Quality Commission standards are applied fairly.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. All providers of regulated activities have to register with the CQC and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall.

The Department monitors the CQC’s financial and operational performance and risks at a general and strategic level through regular formal accountability meetings. It does not assess the CQC’s inspection or monitoring of specific providers. Regular meetings are also held between both Ministers and the Permanent Secretary and the Chair and Chief Executive of the CQC, as well as meetings at official level.

The CQC is responsible for assessing and ensuring the quality of its inspection and monitoring of specific providers on a day to day basis. The CQC published its guidance for providers on meeting the regulations in March 2015. The guide is designed to help providers of health and adult social care follow the fundamental standards and can be found on the CQC website at:

http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/provider-handbooks

The CQC’s annual accounts and annual report are laid before Parliament and it is publicly accountable through parliamentary scrutiny, including select committees.