There has been a call for the proposed new body taking over the regulation of health and adult social care services to ensure that it involves people who use care services and puts them at the centre of its work. The Commission for Social Care Inspection said it would be looking to the new Care Quality Commission to continue making progress in that area.

The proposed Care Quality Commission, announced by the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, will focus on safety and quality across health and adult social care services in both the NHS and the independent sector. Its objective is to provide consistency in regulation as more services are provided between health and social care and it will also aim to cut the administrative burdens on frontline services.

Mr. Johnson said the proposed new body would have a key role in tackling and preventing Healthcare Associated Infections and will support patient choice by providing performance information about providers of adult social care and health care. It will bring together experience and expertise from the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission.

Dame Denise Platt, who chairs the CSCI, welcomed the direction of the Government’s policy and the key functions proposed in the consultation paper about the Quality Commission. “It will therefore be able to build on the success of CSCI in looking across the whole of the adult social care sector, from the important commissioning work carried out by local councils to the quality and safety of care services on the ground. In doing so we look to the Care Quality Commission to continue our work, recently described in our Annual Report, to involve people who use social care services and to put them at the centre of everything it does, “ she said.

The proposals for the new Commission form part of the Government’s response to the document, “The future regulation of health and adult social care in England.” Launching the consultation on the new body Mr. Johnson said, “I am determined to ensure that the distinct needs of social care are recognised by the new regulatory body.”