As part of its engagement with the sectors it regulates as it develops its five year strategy for 2016-21, CQC published and invited comments on Building on strong foundations: shaping the future of health and care quality regulation.

The document set out CQC’s initial thinking on how its regulatory model may need to change to reflect ongoing changes in the way health and social care is delivered. Proposals relate to how CQC might:

• regulate and inspect new models of care;
• comment on quality for specific population groups and across areas;
• support care providers to use resources as efficiently as possible;
• look at how CQC can do its own job with fewer resources;
• move towards a more collaborative approach, where providers can recognise the need for improvement and act on it themselves, rather than relying on external regulation.

Our submission concentrates on five key areas which are of particular importance to our members:

1. The changing landscape and context of the NHS
2. Moving to co-regulation
3. Improving inspections
4. Taking the local context into account
5. Use of resources

We highlighted that when considering how it will develop each of these areas and its wider regulatory model, CQC should:

• be mindful of the fundamental role of quality regulation assigned to it, which is one of setting minimum, national quality standards and identifying where services fall below those standards through a risk-based and proportionate approach. The primary responsibility for the quality of care delivered to patients and services users appropriately lies with provider boards and their staff.
• realistically consider the constraints on its own capacity and ensure that inspectors are fully supported and trained to deliver any new requirements placed on them to consider new aspects of care provision.