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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is inviting websites to share their reviews of care services, as a vital part of its monitoring and inspection activities.

A new scheme will allow reviews, both good and bad, posted on care and health ratings sites to be fed into the picture that CQC holds on care services and ultimately inform decisions on whether or not to inspect.

The scheme is open to health and care feedback websites and directories that gather and capture reviews of care services in England. For a rating site to take part in this initiative it must:

• accept reviews and/or ratings of CQC regulated services from the public.
• take both good and bad reviews - not just testimonials.
• receive more than 50 reviews per month.
• not give any preferential treatment in how it publishes or moderates reviews or replies to providers with whom it has a commercial relationship.

This digital initiative follows on from the CQC email alert service, which allows people to sign up for the most up-to-date standards and quality reports about care providers and the CQC widget, which gives one click access to the latest CQC inspection reports and findings; both were launched last year.

Paul Bate, Director of Strategy & Intelligence,Care Quality Commission, said: “Our inspectors need to tap into what local people know about the health care they receive in their communities.

“By cutting though the bureaucracy and listening directly to patients and their families, through the feedback they leave on care websites, our inspection teams will be well armed when they go to inspect.

 “It is vital that wherever information is posted about the quality of care services that we get to hear about it. This will help bring people’s views, good or bad, straight to the attention of our inspectors.”

“CQC is currently consulting on its plans for a ratings scheme for hospitals which aim to be the single version of quality of care. Proposals for ratings of adult social care and other services will be published later.”

Founder & CEO iWantGreatCare, Dr Neil Bacon said: “There is now clear international evidence that the experience reported by patients and their families provides an accurate guide to the quality of care people receive in hospitals and primary care, and - if properly monitored - provides an early warning "smoke-detector" of safety.

“This new development from the CQC is an important and innovative move which will be welcomed by the hundreds and thousands of patients, who rate and review their care each month. The CQC has empowered the voice of the patient and overnight made them de facto inspectors of their own local care services.”

For media enquiries call the CQC press office on 0207 448 9401 during office hours or out of hours on 07917 232 143.

For general enquiries call 03000 616161.

Notes to editors

Non-executive directors are appointed by the Secretary of State for Health and are accountable to the Chair of the CQC.

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.