New AI warning system to prompt ‘rapid response’ CQC inspections

The CQC will carry out ‘rapid response inspections’ of healthcare providers based on prompts from a new AI-led ‘warning system’.

This forms part of the Government’s 10-year NHS plan, published yesterday, which said CQC will move to a ‘more data-led regulatory model’.

A new AI-powered early warning system will monitor real-time data to flag safety issues. Where problems are detected, ‘inspection teams of highly-qualified staff’ will be deployed quickly to assess service quality.

The plan said: ‘To support this, we will establish a national AI-led warning system building on the capabilities in the Federated Data Platform (FDP). This will mean we are able to analyse data to identify where quality issues are emerging in parts of the NHS. Where the AI system flags a concern, it could trigger a CQC inspection.’

The changes will mean that in future the CQC will use two different models of inspection:

• Rapid response inspections, where concerns are identified, and inspectors are deployed to understand the nature and significance of problems.
• Routine planned inspections, where services are independently inspected by experts – generally on a 3 to 5-year cycle, depending on the level of risk.

The Government also pledged to take firmer action where standards are not met by healthcare providers including GPs.

The CQC will ‘make sure persistent poor-quality care results in the decommissioning or contract termination of services or providers, no matter the setting, no matter whether the provider is in the NHS or independent sector, and no matter whether they are a GP practice or an individual NHS trust’, the plan said.

Other planned changes include extending the regulator’s legal powers and expanding its inspection remit. The current three-year time limit for the CQC to bring legal action against healthcare providers will be extended.

The CQC will also assume the function of checking ‘whether every provider (and in time, ICB) has effective freedom to speak up functions’, according to the plan. In 2023, NHS England told ICBs to make it easier for primary care workers to become freedom to speak up guardians amid ‘extremely low’ levels of whistleblowing. 

As part of plans to reduce the number of NHS quangos, the CQC will also absorb organisations like the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) – to counter and simplify the ‘regulatory tsunami that is overwhelming the system but has not led to sustained improvements in safety’, the plan said.

It follows last year’s Dash review into the CQC’s effectiveness which found it had ‘lost credibility’, including 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.

In addition, the CQC was plagued by IT system failures which led to the temporary ‘loss’ of hundreds of inspection reports, leading to delays for GP practices receiving reinspection results.

CQC chief executive Sir Julian Hartley said: ‘We welcome this ambitious, future-focused plan for a world-class NHS that truly delivers for patients and the public. 

‘We are already developing our new clearer, simpler, assessment approach, and making sure our experienced teams of inspectors, led by our newly-appointed chief inspectors, will be able to conduct more inspections and share feedback on the findings more quickly’.

Read all of Pulse’s coverage of the 10-year plan here.