CQC inspections up one-third in past three months

Inspections by the Care Quality Commission have risen by a third in the past three months, marking a partial reversal of the sharp drop in site visits in the past year, official figures show.

In May, Community Care revealed that the number of inspections had was down by 70% in the first six months of the current regulatory system – October 2010 to March 2011 – compared with the same six months in 2009-10.

The drop was precipitated by the resource requirements of re-registering all adult care providers under the revised regulatory regime.

However, figures issued by the CQC show the number of inspections rose from 505 per month from January to March to 680 per month from April to June this year.

“We have been moving more resources back into inspections now that we have registered adult social care, independent healthcare and dental services,” said a CQC spokesperson.

May saw the highest number of site inspections yet with 759. However, this compares with an average of 1,140 per month from October 2009 to March 2010. It is also far short of the 2,000 monthly inspections that would be required to deliver on the CQC’s target of inspecting all providers at least once a year.

Announcing the target last month, CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower said it was dependent on an additional £15m in annual investment in government, which the CQC has requested.

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