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Monitor and the Care Quality Commission sign Memorandum of Understanding
Building on existing arrangements, the national regulators have put in place further opportunities to share information on NHS Foundation Trusts and to identify potential regulatory issues.
The agreement strengthens the commitment to working together, including on joint licensing that will see providers of NHS services registering with Monitor and the CQC through a single application process from April 2014.
This Memorandum will help to support effective working between staff as the organisations seek to deliver the best possible deal for patients and taxpayers.
The agreement has been reached in light of recommendations made in the Francis Report (2013), in particular the assertion that regulators and supervisory bodies should work more closely together to identify issues and to act quickly to prevent poor standards of care.
Dr David Bennett, Chief Executive of Monitor, said:
"Monitor and CQC share a common purpose to protect and promote the interests of patients. This agreement will strengthen how we work together as the sector addresses the recommendations made in the Francis Report.
"By continuing to work together we can share information and reduce duplication of work as well as delivering better value for money and a more coherent approach to improving the NHS."
David Behan, Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission, said:
"This memorandum is the first in a number of steps that show our commitment to strengthening the way we work with other organisations, as highlighted in our recent strategy review.
"Improved information sharing will help us work together better to bring about change and improve people’s experience of care."
Notes to editors
- For media enquiries about Monitor, please contact Phil Groves, Senior Media Relations Manager, on 020 7340 2444 (phil.groves@monitor.gov.uk)
- For media enquiries about the Care Quality Commission, please contact 020 7448 9401 (media.team@cqc.org.uk)
- The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. We make sure that care in hospitals, dental practices, ambulances, care homes, in people’s own homes, and elsewhere, meets government standards of quality and safety - the standards anyone should expect whenever or wherever they receive care. We also protect the interests of vulnerable people, including those whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act. We register services if they meet government standards, we make unannounced inspections of services, both on a regular basis and in response to concerns, and we carry out investigations into why care fails to improve. We continually monitor information from our inspections, from information we collect nationally and locally, and from the public, local groups, care workers and whistleblowers. We put the views, experiences, health and wellbeing of people who use services at the centre of our work and we have a range of powers we can use to take action if people are getting poor care.
- Monitor is the sector regulator for health. Monitor's main duty is to protect and promote the interests of people who use health care services by promoting provision of services which is economic, efficient, and maintains or improves the quality of services. Monitor will manage key aspects of health care regulation, including; regulating prices; enabling services to be provided in an integrated way; safeguarding choice and competition and supporting commissioners to ensure essential services if the provider gets into financial difficulty.
- Providers of GP and out-of-hours GP services will not have to apply through the joint licencing arrangement as they already register with the CQC.
- The Memorandum, which is available here, forms part of an on going process and will be reviewed by September 30 2013.
- Monitor is now on Twitter - follow us @MonitorUpdate.
