CQC to stop routine inspections amend coronavirus spread

The Care Quality Commission has announced that it will be stopping routine inspections to better support providers to keep people safe during this period of extreme NHS pressure.

Whilst hospitals across the country experience increased pressures to handle the coronavirus outbreak, which has now risen to a total of 1,543 people positively tested, the hospitals inspectorate has also announced the return of clinically qualified CQC special advisors to the frontline to help with the wider national response, as well as secondments of staff to the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and NHS England.

Ian Trenholm, chief executive of CQC, said: “During this period, our priority will be to support those who deliver health and social care to keep people safe during this global health emergency. We will therefore be stopping routine inspections from today. It may still be necessary to use our inspection powers in a very small number of cases when there is clear evidence of harm, such as allegations of abuse.

"In adult social care, our inspectors will also be acting as a support for registered managers, providing advice and guidance throughout this period in the absence of a single national body equivalent to NHS England. We are talking to social care providers about how to most effectively collect information from them to ensure that the government has a clear picture of the impact that COVID-19 is having on the sector."

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This story was first published in digitalhealth.net

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