The Department of Health has confirmed that we will not be proceeding with the adult social care excellence award, following the feedback received during our recent consultation exercise.
The consultation illustrated that although there was enthusiasm for the concept of an award, there was not support for the details of how it would be implemented.
CQC was clear from the outset that any award needed to be supported by the sector, and without support the award should not proceed. The consultation confirmed a lack of support and CQC wrote to the minister to seek further guidance.
Although the award will not be proceeding, we are keen to make sure that the feedback we received during the consultation exercise is taken forwards and we are already in discussions with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) about how we can make sure that this valuable information can still be used.
Imelda Redmond, Chief Executive of Carers UK, is leading a review of quality and the workforce as part of the Department of Health’s listening exercise around the future of care and support, which will feed into a white paper due to be published next year. Cynthia Bower, our Chief Executive, is part of this group, making sure CQC’s views and expertise are reflected in these discussions.
We are grateful to all the individuals, groups and organisations that took the time to respond to the consultation, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Health, trade bodies, sector representatives and other stakeholders to look at how we can contribute to a new shared approach to quality improvement and information for adult social care.