CQC launches consultation on revisions to enforcement policy

The Care Quality Commission has launched a consultation on its enforcement policy, which is being changed to reflect the watchdog’s new powers.

The CQC said: “We have revised our enforcement policy because some of our enforcement powers are different to those we anticipated when we published our first policy in March 2009.”

The revised policy involves changes to the Commission’s warning notice arrangements, and adds “compliance actions” and “improvement actions” to its list of possible regulatory responses.

However, the Commission said its basic approach and the principles it will follow when responding to failure to comply with essential standards remains unchanged from its existing policy.

The consultation runs until 31 August 2010, with the CQC hoping to publish its final enforcement policy on 1 October 2010.