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Yes, it was an April Fool … CQC and its ‘super-outstanding’ rating

This story was published on 1 April and it was (well done for those of you that guessed it) an April Fool…

GP practices who already have an ‘outstanding’ rating will be able to apply for a new higher level of accreditation from the CQC from September.

The regulator announced the move yesterday, as part of a new drive at the CQC to ‘champion excellence’ at all levels of general practice.

The new ‘super-outstanding’ rating will only be open to practices that already have an ‘outstanding’ score on a previous practice inspection and would be subject to an ‘enhanced’ inspection that would be conducted by the regulator.

Chief inspector Professor Steve Field announced the move in a speech yesterday in Westminster. Professor Field said: ’We want to champion excellence at all levels of general practice and this new award will only be made to the 0.5% of practices that will become beacons of good practice around the profession and will be tasked with leading continuing improvement in primary care.’

Professor Field said that all practices with the new rating would be presented with a large gold star award that they will be able to display in their waiting room and a logo on their practice page on NHS Choices. ‘This is an opportunity to show what general practice can be if GPs really try,’ he added.

Professor Field, answering a question from a Pulse reporter, denied this was a tactic to distract from the recent astronomic rises in CQC fees, responding that he was ‘worth every penny’.