This week the CQC announced plans to introduce a new 'special measures' regime for GP practices. The scheme will see practices offering poor care given deadlines to make improvements and if they fail, they could face closure.
The regime for GP practices will be introduced from October this year. This will coincide with us starting to rate 8,000 NHS GP practices on the basis of whether they are outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. This system is similar to how Ofsted rates schools.
The 'special measures' regime aims to improve standards in GP practices across the country.
Under the new proposals, when inspectors rate aspects of a GP practice as 'inadequate', they will have six months to improve. Practices that fail to make improvements will be put into special measures, after which they will be given a further six months to meet the standards required by the CQC. At the end of their period in special measures, if the practice has been judged to be inadequate their CQC registration and their contract with NHS England will be terminated.
In some cases, when we believe poor care is putting patients at risk or that a practice is not capable of improving on its own, we will put the practice straight into special measures.
The plans will bring GP practices into line with the other sectors regulated by the CQC. The regime was adopted by hospitals last year, and the CQC recently reported on progress made by the first 11 NHS trusts to be placed in special measures. Last month the CQC announced that a similar scheme would be introduced across the adult social care sector from April next year.
Image: KateJones365, Flickr
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