Changes to the power of the Secretary of State over CQC

Care Quality Commission is to be given greater independence 
DH, 1 October 2013

• In a speech  the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced proposed amendments to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 that established CQC, via the Care Bill, as it passes through the House of Lords in October 2013. The amendments include:
• The Secretary of State will relinquish a range of powers to intervene in the operational decisions of the CQC (the CQC will no longer need to ask for SoS approval to carry out an investigation into a hospital or care home; the SoS will no longer have the power to direct CQC on the content of its annual report.
• the newly created positions of Chief Inspector of Hospitals, General Practice and Adult Social Care, will be enshrined in law.

Market Reports from CQC

Market Reports
CQC, August 2012

• The first in a series of quarterly publications that will track performance across all sectors and flag issues of concern from CQC inspections.
• The graphs, charts, data and commentary includes:
• The number of services inspected in each sector
• Where these inspections took place shown on maps of England
• What the inspections found - whether each service was meeting the appropriate government standards
• How well each of the government standards were being met across each sector.