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<p>The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult
social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (2008
Act) all providers of regulated activities have to register with the CQC and meet
a set of requirements of safety and quality. As the CQC is a public authority it has
a legal obligation in relation to protecting, respecting and fulfilling people's rights
under the Human Rights Act 1998 (1998 Act).</p><p>If a provider fails to meet these
requirements the CQC has a wide range of enforcement powers that it can use to protect
patients and service users from the risk of poor care.</p><p>The CQC has advised that
it has taken the following published enforcement action during the financial year
2013-14.</p><p>- The CQC undertook two urgent cancellations of providers' registration;</p><p>-
The CQC undertook 53 cancellations of providers' registration;</p><p>- The CQC imposed
a condition on a provider on 45 occasions;</p><p>- The CQC varied a provider's condition
of registration on 13 occasions;</p><p>- The CQC undertook an urgent variation of
a provider's conditions of registration on 13 occasions;</p><p>- The CQC imposed 1,269
warning notices on providers and 18,408 compliance actions on providers; and</p><p>-
The CQC issued over 500 fixed penalty notices.</p><p> </p><p>The CQC monitors and
inspects health and social care providers under regulations which stipulate that providers
must deliver care and treatment to people with due regard to their age, sex, religion,
sexual orientation, race, cultural and linguistic background and disability (Regulation
17).</p><p> </p><p>Where services do not meet standards for Regulation 17, the CQC
sets compliance actions and monitors whether providers have taken action to meet the
standard. If they have not, the CQC may take enforcement action. Between 1 October
2012 and 30 September 2013, the CQC found 48 services did not comply with Regulation
17, leading to enforcement action. This enforcement action is set out in the following
table.</p><p> </p><p>Enforcement action around Regulation 17 in 2012-13</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Acute
hospitals</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Mental health hospitals/hospitals
for</p><p>people with a learning disability</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>General
practitioners</p></td><td><p>0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dentists</p></td><td><p>2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Care
homes</p></td><td><p>36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Home care agencies</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Other
social care services</p></td><td><p>4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>48</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p>The CQC's consultation <em>‘A New Start'</em>, in June 2013 on how it regulates,
inspects and rates services included a section on how Human Rights would be protected
by changes to its regulatory model. To accompany the consultation, the CQC produced
a draft document entitled, ‘Equality and Human Rights Duties Impact Analysis (decision
making and policies)', to give more detail about the impact of the proposed changes
on equality and human rights and how they would promote equality and human rights
for people who use health and social care services.</p><p> </p><p>The CQC also consulted
on its approach to human rights as part of a broader consultation on changes to regulation
of care services. The CQC explained its proposed strategy for delivering on its commitment
to promote equality, diversity and human rights in its regulatory work; to provide
detail about what the strategy will mean in practice; and to receive feedback from
important stakeholders.</p><p> </p><p>The CQC held the consultation between 9 April
2014 and 4 June 2014. The CQC will respond to the results of the consultation in September
2014.</p><p> </p><p>The consultation can be found at the following web link:</p><p>
</p><p>www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20140406_our_human_rights_approach_public_consultation_final.pdf</p><p>
</p><p>In January 2014 the CQC published ‘Equality Counts', a report providing information
about equality in its workforce and for people who are affected by its regulatory
policies and practices. The CQC will use the information in this report to drive its
work in promoting equality and human rights, both in its regulatory functions and
as an employer. The CQC will continue to develop its new approach to ensure equality
in different types of health and social care services.</p>
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