The Care Quality Commission is returning to assess NHS GP practices currently rated Good or Outstanding, meaning practices that haven’t been inspected for several years could soon find themselves back under scrutiny.
Under the CQC’s Returning to Good and Outstanding Providers programme, eligible practices will receive at least five working days’ notice before an assessment. For GP practices, this makes ongoing CQC inspection readiness more important than ever.
Taken together, these developments signal a significant shift in how Health and Social Care inspections will be conducted – both now and in the years ahead.
CQC Good and Outstanding ratings guide: Could your GP practice be assessed?
The CQC good and outstanding care guide programme applies to NHS in-hours GP practices that:
- Are currently rated Good or Outstanding
- Had their last inspection report published between 2017 and 2022
- Are considered lower risk
- Have no ongoing regulatory activity
But what do CQC inspections entail for practices? Assessments will include a site visit, face-to-face interviews with key staff and a review of 10 quality statements across five key questions:
- Safe
- Effective
- Caring
- Responsive
- Well-led
This includes important areas such as safe environments, staffing, infection prevention and control, quality of care, patient outcomes, access, culture and governance.
With only five working days’ notice, practices need to be able to demonstrate compliance before the CQC call.
A CQC mock inspection can help identify potential gaps and give practice leaders time to address them before a formal assessment.
Enhanced CQC assessments are also being introduced
CQC is also gradually introducing an enhanced assessment for some GP practices. Alongside the 10 quality statements, these assessments will look at:
- Medicines optimisation
- Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
This can include clinical records reviews covering areas such as prescribing, drug safety alerts, medicines reviews, chronic disease and long-term condition management.
If the independent regulator identifies concerns suggesting that an existing rating is no longer accurate, the assessment may also be escalated to a more comprehensive assessment.
Would your practice pass a CQC inspection on five days’ notice?
A Good or Outstanding rating shouldn’t mean CQC compliance falls down the priority list. Practice managers and GP partners should be confident that their governance, policies, risk assessments, staffing and training records, infection control, medicines management and improvement plans are current and can be evidenced.
At Care 4 Quality, our healthcare compliance specialists can help GP practices understand where they stand before the regulator comes calling.
From CQC mock inspections and compliance reviews to policy and governance support, we can help you identify gaps, strengthen your evidence and prepare your team for assessment.
Don’t wait for the five-day notice. Speak to Care 4 Quality today for an action plan to find out how inspection-ready your GP practice really is.
