MPs endorse proposed chair of CQC but warn "a number of issues remain"

MPs on the health select committee have endorsed Dame Jo Williams’ candidacy for chair of the Care Quality Commission.

However, they warned that while the CQC had “made encouraging progress in many areas of its agenda, a substantial number of issues remain”.

In a report the committee called on the CQC to address several areas of concern:

• The need to implement robust processes to allow whistleblowers to provide information to the Commission without necessarily prejudicing their own position. In her evidence Dame Jo said the CQC recognised the challenge of helping people speak out
• Handing ‘soft data’ a proper role in assessing the quality of care, particularly in residential social care settings. “We strongly support the use of soft data but believe that for it to be truly valuable it must be collected and applied in a rigorous, structured manner rather than on an informal basis”
• The need to consider the implications of the shortage of doctors to provide second opinions under sections 57 and 58 of the Mental Health Act, which the committee believes leads to the inappropriate use of section 62 (urgent treatment)
• The need to work closely with ministers and established LINk groups to ensure the effective discharge of the “significant” responsibilities involved in establishing HealthWatch England within the CQC. This new body is designed to provide leadership to local HealthWatch bodies, advice to the NHS Commissioning Board, Monitor and the Secretary of State for Health. It will also propose CQC investigations of poor services
• The quality and accessibility of the information available from the CQC both to the public and to commissioners and providers of care. The committee welcomed the CQC’s consultation on making its findings understandable to the public and helping them make informed choices.

The health committee, which plans to review the CQC’s work on an annual basis, said a number of the Commission’s challenges related to continuing work to consolidate it as a single unified body following the merger of its three predecessor bodies (the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, and the Mental Health Act Commission).

The MPs said there was a need to establish a clear understanding of the distinctive roles of the chair and board on the one hand, and the chief executive and management on the other – and to establish an effective working relationship between the two.

They added that there was a need to develop a common “CQC” culture across the different historic fields of responsibility, and a need to develop clear internal cost and efficiency targets and procedures for reporting performance against these targets to the board.

Practical challenges arising from the merger – such as the consolidation of information technology systems and the development of an integrated management structure – were also still an issue.

The committee said it recognised that the CQC’s objectives needed to be achieved against the background of declining real resource.