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CQC and Monitor may not be able to regulate ‘without oversight’, MPs say

The Government’s current regulation system may not be able to regulate healthcare providers’ quality and finance effectively ‘without considerable oversight’, a committee of MPs has said.

MPs on the influential Commons health committee said that they were ‘sceptical’ that the CQC, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority working together will be able to regulate quality and finance issues without another body overseeing this process.

The committee’s report, After Francis; making a difference, said: ‘The Committee is sceptical that the proposed failure regime, which is complex, can effectively address and remedy issues of care quality and financial performance in providers without considerable oversight.’

However, the MPs added they did not want to see further structural change: ‘The Committee does not recommend any further major institutional change in the relationship between Monitor and the CQC, and proposes to examine the effectiveness of future regulatory arrangements through its programme of accountability hearings.’

The Government rejected the proposal by Robert Francis QC, who led the public inquiry into the failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, for a single regulator to examine the performance of providers in terms of both quality and finance.