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CQC to begin inspections of NHS 111 services

The CQC is planning to inspect and rate NHS 111 services based on the model it uses for GP services, it has announced.

The regulator said it will begin inspecting NHS 111 services from June, and expects to finish by September next year, with services to be inspected every three years.

It will use inspect whether the services are ‘safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led’, which is based on the model used for GP services.

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However, it has said that it will rate rate NHS 111 services according to the six population groups used for GP practice inspections – older people; people with long term conditions; families, children and young people; working age people; vulnerable patients; and people with poor mental health – arguing that providers to do not have ongoing responsibilities for their populations in the same way that GP practices do.

Ahead of finalising the plans CQC chief inspector of general practice Dr Steve Field has launched a public consultation – running until April 24 – on this proposed approach to inspections.

Professor Field said: ‘This consultation focuses on our approach to inspecting 111 services. In the longer term we plan to look at the quality of all urgent care services within a local area and we want to understand how well they work together to provide care to people with urgent needs.’