CQC promises new inspection results will be 'jargon-free and reliable'

This month sees England’s care regulatory body, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), begin new methods of inspection and regulation that are aimed at providing service users with clear information that will inform their choice-making.

Specialist teams, that include trained members of the public known as ‘Experts by Experience’, will be deciding upon the rating for each care home and home care service, which will be Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate.

Care choices

Chief inspector Andrea Sutcliffe comments: “Helping people to choose care for an older loved one can be a very difficult and emotional time for people, especially if they have to do this while juggling the demands of parenthood and working life.

“I want to assure anyone who is in this situation that help is at hand from CQC to support them in making informed choices about care.

“From this month, we are introducing our strengthened way of inspecting care homes and other adult social care services across England, using expert inspectors who will base their judgements on what matters most to the people who use them. We will rate services as Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate so that the public has clear, jargon-free and reliable information of what we have found.

“Working with the sector, this will remove the mystery that often shrouds care homes and other services and help people to have confidence in their care services and their choices.”

Mumsnet survey

The announcement has been timed to coincide with a survey conducted by websites Mumsnet and Gransnet, which found that 84 per cent of adults admitted choosing a care service for their loved one was either ‘very stressful’ or ‘quite stressful’. The survey also found that 76 per cent of respondents wanted to know if a service was rated Good or Outstanding.

Justine Roberts, Mumsnet chief executive, comments: “Our users have told us that balancing the needs of elderly parents or grandparents while looking after young children is one of the most stressful times of their lives. Easy to access information can help, so we’re glad to see the CQC’s new ratings for care, which can smooth the process for people choosing care for their loved ones.”

Catering services

Ian Jackson, managing director of the CAP Awards, an annual award scheme for catering and housekeeping/cleaning services, claims the new ratings system is more likely to succeed “if a culture of consistency is at its heart”.

He added: “It’s also worth bearing in mind that the management of catering and housekeeping is often indicative of the management of the whole site – the canary in the coal mine.

“If CQC inspectors pay close attention to ‘inadequate service’ in catering and housekeeping via levels of performance such as staff motivation and hygiene, then they may well be an indicator of the broader performance of the home in question.”

Although many in the sector have welcomed the new approach, the CQC is also causing controversy with reported plans that it is considering offering advice to families who wish to spy on care homes.