The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said there were roughly 500 inspection reports ‘stuck’ in its IT systems which now cannot be retrieved.
It was announced in May 2024 that the CQC would face a government review into its ‘operational effectiveness’. The resulting report identified ‘significant failings’ and an ‘urgent need for comprehensive reform’.
Yesterday (15 January) CQC chief executive Julian Hartley and chairman Ian Dilks appeared in front of the Health and Social Care Committee to discuss plans to address the shortcomings. One of the problems described was the CQC’s IT system, newly introduced in 2023.
Julian Hartley said: ‘The regulatory platform and the IT systems are far and away the number one reason for low productivity, staff stress, low staff morale and poor staff wellbeing. The regulatory platform is not fit for purpose and is preventing us from doing our job.’
In particular, the CQC reported an issue that prevented inspectors from being able to access around 500 reports. Ian Dilks said: ‘We have got reports now that go back to some months that are stuck in systems. People cannot get them back out.
‘They’ve done the job. They just started draft report. That stage is probably more information needed. It has to go for quality assurance, and they can’t get it back out the system.’
Julian Hartley said he was ‘confident’ that the CQC would be able to resolve the shortcomings highlighted. He continued: ‘First job is to make sure that we’ve got the ability to make sure that on the regulatory platform, which has caused so much difficulty for staff, there’s a way for inspectors and staff actually being able to do their job in order to increase the number of assessments.’
‘An intensely challenging experience’
In July 2024, CQC interim chief executive Kate Terroni issued an apology on behalf of the regulator. She said: ‘We’ve lost your trust. I’m sorry.’
Her statement detailed several failings including delays in registration and changes to communication which left providers feeling ‘unsupported’, in addition to the IT problems.
Terroni described recent changes as ‘not what we promised’, making things ‘more difficult than they should be’. She also said the CQC ‘got things wrong in the implementation of our new regulatory approach’.
FMC content director Guy Hiscott described the apology as ‘a hugely significant move’. He said: ‘An apology from a regulator is no mean feat – so I applaud Ms Terroni for her honesty and openness.’
In October 2024, Kate Terroni announced that she would be leaving the CQC after an ‘intensely challenging’ experience.
She said: ‘It has been a huge privilege to act as interim chief executive, but it has also been an intensely challenging experience, and I needed to take some time away to absorb the impact it has had on me.’
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