"The NHS needs effective and intelligent regulation, now more than ever as the health care system becomes more fragmented and the public look for assurances about their local services in the wake of the Francis report into the failings at Stafford Hospital. We want and need the CQC to be a success; it is incredibly important it carries the confidence of the public and the organisations it oversees.

"It is clear the CQC is working hard to regain the confidence of the NHS and the public. This strategy shows a strong commitment to developing a system that is responsive, specialist in its sector and provides people with the information they need about the services they use. The CQC can enhance this by doing more to help promote good practice and encourage organisations to do more to learn from each other.

"We need informed, and appropriate inspection, not necessarily more inspection. The CQC's move to re-establish inspection teams with specialist expertise will go a long way to re-instil confidence in its abilities."

Mr Farrar added:

“Healthcare is, by its nature, risky. However good a regulatory system, it cannot guarantee safety and we should never depend on it to do so. We need it to help minimise and manage risks.

"It is the responsibility of every local NHS organisation and its staff to ensure it is providing people with the highest standards of care and protecting them from harm. If we don't have confidence in NHS leaders to do that, then no amount of regulation will solve our problems." 

Stephen Dalton, chief executive of the NHS Confederation's Mental Health Network said:

"We want to congratulate the CQC for producing a bold, even-handed and very clear statement on their direction of travel. We particularly welcome the involvement of service users as 'experts by experience' and senior clinical personnel and other leaders from provider organisations in the regulatory process.

"Whilst recognising the need for CQC to remain independent, the era of stand off that had developed between NHS providers and CQC in some places needs to be put behind us and the shared ambition of striving for best quality and promoting best practice can be a shared ambition to deliver a better NHS."

Notes to Editors