The health regulator should rethink its one-word ratings system for hospitals and care homes following damning criticism of the watchdog, a senior NHS leader has told i . Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the Care Quality Commission (CQC) should look again at how it assesses tens of thousands of health and care services across the country. The single-word ratings – from inadequate to outstanding – are not fair to complex health organisations running acute, community and mental health services, Sir Julian said.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting branded the CQC “not fit for purpose” last week after a report found the NHS watchdog has left 1 in 5 health services without a rating and some hospitals and care homes without an inspection for 10 years. Mr Streeting said he was “absolutely appalled” after reading the report’s findings which he said was a “damning indictment” of the NHS watchdog. He warned patients not to trust the ratings system or any information the regulator has on its website.
Sir Julian said NHS Providers, which represents trusts, has recommended that the CQC “re-evaluates the success of its one-word ratings and considers adding a narrative to qualify its assessments”. He said: “If you think about how complex and big some of our provider organisations are – in mental health, in hospitals – some trusts are comprised of many hospitals and treat tens of thousands of patients and have large staff numbers.” “We app.