ISCAS signs new Agreement with CQC

Care Quality Commission

As part of our Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), ISCAS has just completed a pilot to improve the CQC inspection team’s focus on the outcomes from ISCAS independent adjudications. ISCAS has shared redacted independent adjudication reports with CQC for a number of years, however there were concerns that the length of the reports made it difficult for the CQC inspectors to use this intelligence effectively. The pilot reviewed the content of the letter sent to the provider that accompanies the report to ascertain whether the actions identified by the independent adjudicator in the letter were clear and succinct, thereby improving the ease for CQC inspectors to review ahead of inspections. ISCAS is confident that this more streamlined approach will be helpful to CQC and, through continually improving the letter content, to the Chief Executives in subscribing organisations. ISCAS continues to meet regularly with CQC to discuss matters relevant to Regulation 16 of the Fundamental Standards regarding receiving and acting on complaints. Our next meeting is scheduled for 29thMay 2019. ISCAS is currently updating information sharing aggreements with both Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW).