In the document strategy for 2016-2021 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) sets out its vision and ambitions for the period. The Royal College of Physicians welcomes that in the accompanying document ‘What our strategy means for the health and adult social care services we regulate’, accreditation is referred to as follows (page eight):

“With our partners, we will bring together a common information set that is accessible to all. This will mean that providers only have to share information once, minimising duplication and reducing their administrative burden.

“We will look at how we can work more effectively with our partners by using each other’s information, such as accreditation schemes.”

A number of the schemes managed by the Royal College of Physicians are recognised by the CQC, and we are aiming for the IQAS and QPIDS accreditation schemes to be recognised in due course. Recognition by the CQC will mean that the accreditation status of a clinical service will be taken into account when inspecting a hospital, potentially resulting in a lighter-touch inspection.

The RCP is a lead partner in the Clinical Services Accreditation Alliance and this positive statement aligns with several of its aims, namely to reduce unnecessary burden, to coordinate accreditation activity and to offer robust information to regulators.

More information

The CQC’s strategy is available at http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/our-strategy-2016-2021

The accompanying document ‘What our strategy means for the health and adult social care services we regulate’ is available at http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20160523_strategy_16-21_sector_summary_final.pdf