CQC to review IT systems to reduce GP inspection wait times 

The CQC will review its IT systems in an effort to speed up inspection times, it has said today. 

The proposal comes as part of a public consultation launched by the watchdog on improving how it assesses providers, including GP practices. 

Last year, a major review identified ‘significant internal failings’ at the regulator, ‘which are hampering its ability to identify poor performance’ at GP practices, hospitals and care homes.’

The consultation document said the CQC needed to ‘improve the timeliness of our inspections, the clarity and impact of our inspection reports, and how we maintain relationships with the providers that we regulate’. 

It identified its current IT systems as a barrier to this and proposed improvements to its portal and registration systems, to be introduced ‘over the coming months’. 

The document said: ‘We know that our current IT systems need to better support our internal colleagues as well as providers and stakeholders.  

‘We will develop and roll out replacement functionality to support our regulatory functions, including our assessment process over the coming months.  

‘As part of this work, we will redevelop the provider portal functionality and our registration systems, acknowledging feedback about the significant improvements we need to make.’ 

Earlier this year, the CQC confirmed reports for 14 GP practices had been delayed by months due to assessments being ‘lost’ within its IT systems. One GP partner told Pulse his practice in Northampton waited over six months to receive a report following a reinspection.

Dr Penny Dash’s review, published in October 2024, highlighted a marked increase in the time it took to re-inspect healthcare services.   

Average re-inspection times increased from 87 days in 2015 to 136 days in 2024 for ‘inadequate’ ratings, and from 142 days to 360 days during the same period for ‘requires improvement’ ratings. 

The consultation’s proposals were generated from a series of roadshow-style events the CQC held across England earlier this year. 

The document also confirmed it was ‘developing a policy position statement on AI’ to ‘articulate our role and remit’, to be published in spring 2026. 

The NHS 10 year health plan gave the CQC increased powers including implementing an AI-powered early warning system to monitor real-time data to flag safety issues.  

Where problems are detected, ‘rapid response’ inspection teams would be deployed quickly to assess service quality, it suggested. 

Last month, CQC primary care chief inspector Professor Bola Owolabi told Pulse LIVE Newcastle the AI system would not be used as a ‘surveillance system wanting to catch people out’. 

Other proposals in the document include re-introducing assessment frameworks ‘that are specific to each sector’ and reducing ‘the mixing of new evidence with evidence gathered in previous inspections. 

The Dash review had raised the issue of the ‘concerning use of the outcome of previous inspections (that often took place several years ago) to calculate a current rating’. 

The regulator said it would continue to base its ratings on five ‘key questions’: are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. 

It also said it would maintain use of overall ratings (outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate) for services. 

The consultation is open from today until 11 December for ‘people working at all levels in health and social care services, people who use services, carers, CQC staff and national stakeholders’. 

The formal consultation will be followed by ‘early testing and phased improvements’ in late 2025 and into 2026 using ‘early adopters’, before a gradual rollout of the changes next year.