PLAIN ENGLISH SUMMARY OF THE CQC RESPONSE
CONTEXT How can a Provider improve their rating after receiving a negative rating (request for reinspection)
CQC RESPONSE “There is no formal process for providers to request an assessment to change their rating, nor are there plans to introduce such a process.”
CQC POLICY ON REINSPECTION “We will no longer use the rating of a service as the main driver. when deciding when we next need to assess” Any review is totally at the discretion of the CQC and the next assessment will be planned, or when new “concerning information” is received.
CQC RISK BASED TARGETTING “….we generally focus our resources on services where there is risk.”
• CQC is focused mainly on finding new services at risk • Once a Provider is identified and rated as high-risk at the inspection, there is no mechanism for ongoing monitoring until the risk is eliminated; and there is no mechanism to motivate or even allow improvement and be reinspected • The CQC place minimal value on their own risk rating as they “…will no longer use the rating of a service as the main driver…. when we next need to assess”
THE EFFECT ON PROVIDERS Regardless of the improvements made, there is no pathway to remove the stigma of a negative rating, which must be displayed prominently on web sites, and can remain unchanged for up to 10 years. At the date of this request, there are almost 8,000 Providers stuck with negative ratings which are up to 5 years out of date.
In effect, these Providers are trapped in a system where a negative rating becomes a permanent stain, almost impossible to remove.
FUTURE PLANS The CQC clarifies that as the Single Assessment Framework has been declared not fit for purpose in a review by Dr Penelope Dash, their plans and targets have been suspended and regular reviews will not start until the model is fixed and is fully implemented. It is unclear when that will be.
Changes to the framework are underway, the CQC states “Work is therefore currently underway to improve how we use our new regulatory approach”
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