CQC looks at quality of care across two local areas

We have now published two further prototype reports looking at how we might assess the quality of care in a local area in order to encourage improvement.

Looking across an area helps us explore, on behalf of people using services, whether local health and care services are working together in ways that reflect people's needs.

The project that has resulted in these reports on Salford and Tameside was designed to find out if we would be able to form a view about quality across an area as a whole. We recognise that our existing regulation of individual care providers, such as hospitals, care homes or GP services, needs to develop to reflect the changing ways in which care is being delivered.

We published our first prototype 'place' report – on North Lincolnshire – earlier this year.

David Behan, CQC's chief executive, commented: "In these two reports we have attempted to answer the questions, 'If I live in Tameside or Salford what will be my experience of health and care services? If I have multiple needs are services joined up?' We need to look at the quality of care people receive across areas and between services. Having a better understanding of how different parts of the health and care system work together should also help drive improvement.

"By 2020, 50 per cent of the population should be receiving care in a range of new ways and from organisations that bring different elements of care together. Quality of Care in a Place is one of a number of ways we have been looking at how we can assess the quality of care beyond individual providers.

"Together these projects are helping us to build our capability to inspect, report on and rate new models of care, such as vanguards, and the range of different services that people use. Our work is also designed to support areas to innovate and collaborate and make informed decisions about local services."