Project finds Care Quality Commission has unique opportunities to support innovation and deliver innovation-friendly regulation.
Over eight months we have been working with providers and representative groups to understand their experience of innovation. Through a series of roundtables, surveys and pilot projects, we have looked at what works well and where we could do things differently to help providers who want to develop or adopt new ways of working.
We were told how good outcomes for people using services have to remain at the heart of innovation. We were also told how greater clarity is needed around our role and that of other bodies in health and care regulation.
Supported by the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund (RPF), this report has identified six areas where we can deliver innovation-supporting regulation and help drive better care for people. The people we spoke to were clear that they strongly support us having a role in supporting innovation and that our role gives us clear opportunities in this space.
These areas include providing greater clarity around CQC’s role in innovation, the roles of other bodies working in health and social care who may also be able to provide support – all with an unfaltering focus on outcomes for people using services.
We also heard that we should be thinking about how we make the best use of our impact mechanisms, which describe the different ways we can influence the quality of care that people receive.
One of the strongest points raised by our roundtable attendees was the opportunity created by CQC’s new Single Assessment Framework and role in assessing Local Authorities (LAs) and Integrated Care Systems (ICSs).
The new Single Assessment Framework includes quality statements that which are commitments that providers, commissioners and system leaders should live up to.
With these new responsibilities and a quality statement that focuses on quality improvement and innovation, we have the opportunity to promote improvement cultures and innovation in LAs and ICSs.
The report also describes how we are using what we learnt and can continue to put this into practice.
Read the full report, along with our innovation journey map and example case studies showing how new ways of working can link in with our quality statements.
The RPF is a grant-based fund to enable UK regulators and local authorities to help create a UK regulatory environment that encourages business innovation and growth. The current £12m round is being delivered by DSIT.
