Oral Answers to Questions

Margot James Excerpts

Tuesday 25th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

No, I do not. I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has asked that question, because I think that there is a world of difference between the question of the exercising of clinical leadership by general practices as members of a consortium in an area and the question of from whom they derive management support. I believe that many will derive it from existing PCT teams, the voluntary sector and local authorities. Sometimes the independent sector will be involved, but it is a question of the consortium choosing where to go rather than being taken over.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

T2. Some care homes that have received critical reports from the Care Quality Commission are reopening under the same management but with different names. The CQC’s practice is to remove earlier poor reports from its website, leaving potential customers in the dark about the poor record of those homes. Will the Minister remind the CQC of its responsibility to highlight poor practice in care homes, and request that it change its practice?

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Paul Burstow)]

I will certainly ensure that the CQC understands that that is a matter of concern. When it discharges home owners and deregisters them, after receiving an application for a fresh registration, it conducts a thorough appraisal and assessment of their fitness to provide the service. The new owner of a home may well have done a great deal of work in improving the quality of training given to staff, but I agree that it ought to be possible for people to look at the CQC’s website and see reports on the quality of the previous provider so that they can assess that as well.