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UKIP announces election pledge to ‘scrap CQC’

The UK Independence Party would abolish the CQC if voted into Government in May, alongside revalidation.

Launching its health policy today, the party said it wants to hand the CQC inspection role to new ‘county health boards’, led by a chairperson elected by local people.

It also said it wants to get rid of ‘target chasing, revalidation and appraisal work’, although it did not clarify how this would work in practice.

Meanwhile, the county health boards would be made up of of healthcare professionals, social workers and third sector representatives and be responsible for collecting evidence from whistleblowers and patients with grievances.

The launch of the health policy comes as the party had already pledged to make health insurance mandatory for UK visitors to see a GP and said it will spend £3bn on NHS frontline services that it will raise by ‘withdrawing from Europe’ and implementing plans for charging migrants.

Other policies outlined today in a speech by the party’s spokesman for health, Louise Bours MEP, included:

  • Extending GP opening hours, making all practices open at least one evening a week and one weekend per month
  • Training 8,000 new GPs, 3,000 midwives and 20,000 nurses
  • Incentivising British GPs to return home by covering the cost of retraining
  • Reducing GP appointment waiting times by releasing doctors ‘from the burden of unnecessary data collection, target chasing, revalidation and appraisal work’

Ms Bours said: ‘The Care Quality Commission, the organisation that’s supposed to scrutinise care for the elderly and put right any wrongs, just isn’t working. We will scrap this organisation and put its remit into local County Health Boards with the power to do unannounced spot checks across all local NHS and social care services.’

She added: ‘Those who have tried to get a GPs appointment recently will tell you it was a difficult experience, almost a battle, at a time when they’re at their least able to fight. To cut GP waiting times UKIP will also free GPs from the burden of unnecessary data collection, target chasing, revalidation and appraisal work that actively prevents them from engaging with patients.

‘These measures will ensure GPs can meet UKIP’s requirements to open surgeries at least one night a week and one weekend a month in order to meet demand.’

A CQC spokesperson told Pulse it ‘would not be appropriate’ to comment on the manifesto proposals of any party.