The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has prompted the Care Quality Commission to move towards becoming a ‘more dynamic, proportionate and flexible regulator’.

The CQC’s inspection reports and ratings provide a view of quality that’s vital for the public, service providers and stakeholders. Now, the regulator wants to introduce changes to allow the organisation to assess and rate services more flexibly, thereby updating ratings more often, and making ratings easier to understand for everyone.

Ian Trenholm, chief executive of the CQC, said; “The world of health and social care has changed significantly since we were established nearly a decade ago as an independent regulator – not least in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. To continue to make sure we meet the needs of the people who use services and the providers we regulate, we need to change too.

“We’ve learned a lot from our response to the pandemic so far, and we’re using this to put us in a better place for the future and support services to keep people safe. Your views and feedback have been invaluable as we’ve developed our strategy. We’d also like to hear what you think of our proposals for more flexible and responsive regulation so we can make sure the changes we make work for everyone.”