NHS regulator may not be fit to register GP practices, MPs warn

MPs have raised fears that the NHS’s main regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) might be unfit to register all 10 000 GP practices later this year.

MPs heavily criticise the commission for failing to be an effective regulator with serious questions raised over its governance, leadership, and culture.

As the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, the commission, which was formed in 2009 from the merger of three previous regulators, currently regulates more than 21 000 care providers against 16 essential standards of quality and safety.

Its role in ensuring quality standards and deterring poor quality and unsafe care had not been fulfilled effectively, and it had not achieved the right balance between registration and inspection, said MPs.

In February, the commission’s chief executive Cynthia Bower, resigned after a series of damning reports on its performance (BMJ 2012;344:e1396, doi:10.1136/bmj.e1396).

Between September of this year and April 2013 the commission will carry out what the MPs’ report describes as …