Consultation responses

This consultation sets out in broad terms the approach that CQC will take during 2009/10. This consultation response is specifically focused on the first year of CQC operation.

On 1 April 2008 the Health and Safety Commission with Health and Safety Executive merged to form a single entity, also known as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The HSE is the national regulatory body responsible for promoting the cause of better health and safety at work within Great Britain.

The Department of Health (England) has proposed two major changes to the way in which indicators are chosen for use within the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF). QoF is essentially a voluntary payment by results style contract for General Practitioners (GPs) element of GMS. The contract includes standards, measured by a set of indicators; the achievement of which results in points and points translate into money.

On 4 November 2008, the Department of Health published draft guidance on how to proceed in situations where NHS patients wished to buy additional secondary care services that the NHS did not fund.

This draft enforcement policy sets out how the Care Quality Commission (CQC) intend to use their enforcement powers to protect the health, safety and welfare of people who use health and social care services, and to improve the quality of these services. It includes the principles they will follow when doing this.

In response to the publication of the Mike Richard's report, "Improving access to medicines for NHS patients" in which he recommends that "the DH work with NICE to assess urgently what affordable measures could be taken to make available drugs used near the end of life that do not meet the cost-effectiveness criteria currently applied to all drugs" NICE published a consultation document at the end of 2008.

In any system that delivers services, a minority of organisations will under-perform. Most of those will be able to recover this position and improve, but some will fail and will need direct intervention to ensure that service continuity is given priority and that over time good local services are developed. The Prime Minister has made clear that the Government will take decisive action in the public interest again failing services and this applies to NHS services as to all others. This is a core obligation to the state.

There are a number of issues that need to be addressed before a new care and support system can be developed. The Government believes that finding a solution to these issues will require a radical rethink of how we pay for and deliver care and support services.

The ENVI Committee considered the Draft Report by Adriana Poli Bortone on the Commission's White Paper on nutrition, overweight and obesity related health issues.