Wednesday 19 October 2011

Excellence Award for social care has been abandoned


The health minister, Paul Burstow, has confirmed that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will not be proceeding with the adult social care excellence award, following the feedback received during a recent consultation exercise.

The consultation illustrated that although there was enthusiasm for the concept of an award, there was not support for the details of how it would be implemented.

CQC was clear from the outset that any award needed to be supported by the sector, and without support the award should not proceed. The consultation confirmed a lack of support and CQC wrote to the minister to seek further guidance.

Although the award will not be proceeding, the CQC are keen to make sure that the feedback they received during the consultation exercise is taken forwards and they are already in discussions with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) about how they can make sure that this valuable information can still be used.

Imelda Redmond, Chief Executive of Carers UK, is leading a review of quality and the workforce as part of the Department of Health’s listening exercise around the future of care and support, which will feed into a white paper due to be published next year. Cynthia Bower, the CQC's Chief Executive, is part of this group, making sure CQC’s views and expertise are reflected in these discussions.

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