Introduction
On its website, CQC say,
“We aim to provide the best possible service, but do not always get it right.”
CQC add,
“Make your complaint to the person you have been dealing with at CQC. They will usually be the best person to resolve the matter. If you feel unable to do this, or you have tried and were unsuccessful, you can contact our National Complaint Service Centre who will pass your concerns to our complaints team.”
Matters the National Complaints Service say they can deal with include unprofessional conduct of inspectors.
CQC say complaints must be brought within one year of becoming aware of the issues the provider wishes to complain about. However, significantly, the National Complaints Team will not consider
“evidence from our inspections, ratings and decisions made under our regulatory powers.”
Separating unprofessional conduct from the inspection process
CQC insist matters involving the alleged unprofessional conduct of inspectors must go down the formal complaint route. They will not be dealt with locally as part of the inspection. A formal complaint investigation typically takes months to conclude. Meanwhile, the inspection process continues: a draft report is issued, the factual accuracy process is invoked and finally the report is published.
At Gordons Partnership, we have long argued that if inspectors behave unprofessionally during an inspection, it raises a concern about their independence and attitude which calls into question the integrity of the inspection. In contrast to CQC, Ofsted does address conduct issues as part of the inspection. Ofsted offers children’s services providers an opportunity to complain in writing about the conduct of inspectors following receipt of the draft inspection report. The complaint will be dealt with by Ofsted before the inspection report is published. If the complaint is upheld, the inspection report may not be published at all. The fact CQC’s does not do this is deliberate. CQC’s focus is on publishing the inspection report. Having to deal with issues of conduct may hold up that process and call into question the reliability of the inspection.
How CQC investigates complaints about conduct
If a provider complains about an inspector, the matter will be allocated to an investigator. The inspector in question will be interviewed as part of the investigation. Generally, CQC will not interview the provider’s employees who witnessed the unprofessional conduct. At most there may be a telephone call with a manager of the provider to agree the scope of the complaint.
The CQC investigator will have sight of the internal records relating to the inspection. In our experience, CQC refuse to disclose such records to complainants. Typically, complainants are directed down the route of making a Freedom of Information Act request which is unlikely to be successful.
Finally, CQC will produce an investigation report which is first sent to the inspector who has been complained about to comment on its accuracy. In other words, the investigator will share their findings with the inspector in advance of the final report being issued to the provider. This casts real doubt on the independence of the investigation.
Independent evidence
Almost certainly, the inspector will deny the allegations or say they cannot recollect matters. It is therefore important for providers to get their staff who witnessed the alleged poor conduct to prepare contemporaneous witness statements. If these corroborate each other this will make the case that much stronger.
However, we have come across cases where CQC have said in the final investigation report that as there was no “independent evidence” to prove or disprove the alleged unprofessional conduct, they could not reach a view on the matter. In practice this means inspectors are immune from criticism in respect of unprofessional conduct that occurs during inspections as it is highly unlikely there will be independent evidence available. What CQC should do is evaluate all the evidence and reach a view on what account is the more credible.
Conclusion
The CQC complaints process is deeply flawed. It needs to be fundamentally changed so that it follows the Ofsted complaint model where alleged unprofessional conduct on the part of inspectors is investigated as part of the inspection process. CQC also needs to performance manage its inspectors far more effectively than it does. The vast majority are professional and compassionate by nature but some are not. One can only hope that the new senior management team at CQC take a long hard look at the CQC complaint process and take action to make it truly independent, fair and effective.
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