This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
CQC must reduce government funding by 40 per cent
CQC chief executive David Behan issued the warning in a paper to its board meeting, whereby he suggested deferring discussion of the inspection plan until after the 25 November Spending Review. Behan’s proposal follows the revelation that the CQC is already set to miss its deadline to inspect all adult social care, GPs and out of hours services in England by 30 September next year.
Behan’s report states “The implications for delivering the [inspection] plan in 2016-17 depend on finalisation of the spending review, CQC receiving a budget allocation for 2016-17, and final agreement on fees for 2016-17.
“No decisions have been made on these three important influences so I propose that discussing the programme for 2016-17 is deferred until such time when it is clear what the decision is in respect of these three issues.”
The report adds: “Undoubtedly, with CQC being asked to consider 25 per cent and 40 per cent reduction in ‘grant in aid’ there will be implications.”
The CQC’s grant in aid is currently £120 million, so a 40 per cent reduction would result in a £48 million cut.
A spokeswoman for the CQC said: “All government departments have been asked to model scenarios of 25 per cent and 40 per cent of savings from their grant in aid by 2019-20 in real terms.
“In line with this, the CQC is undertaking an exercise to consider possible implications ahead of the upcoming comprehensive spending review.”
The CQC issued a separate statement admitting it may not hit its deadlines for inspecting adult social care, general practice, out of house primary care and independent health services.
Mr Behan said: “Our productivity is increasing as we recruit more inspectors but we are highlighting this possible risk to delivery now and planning in an open and transparent way as to how we can address this.”
He highlighted the importance that inspectors are ‘trained, supported, and have the appropriate time to carry out high quality inspections’, and assured that the CQC would ‘never compromise on the quality of the work we have to do’.
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