Have CQC hospital inspections resulted in better quality care?

The regulation of health care in England is multifaceted and in addition to bodies such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) it includes organisations such as General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health Professions Council to regulate individual members of the caring professions.

The CQC was created in 2009 following the merger of three regulatory organisations: the Health Care Commission, better known by health professionals as the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI), the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission. The primary function of the CQC is to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England.

Health professionals such as nurses had been regulated for nearly a century following the Nurses Registration Act 1919 under the General Nursing Council, forerunner to the Nursing and Midwifery Council. However, it is important to stress that before 1997 there was no national policy covering all aspects of safety and quality of healthcare provision in English hospitals.