Steve McCabe
Main Page: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)Department Debates - View all Steve McCabe's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(10 years, 7 months ago)
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Norman Lamb
My hon. Friend is right. That is why the Government have taken steps to ensure that the Care Quality Commission can prosecute when there are examples of the new fundamental standards of care we are introducing being breached. In future, no one will be able to get away with allowing poor standards of care in their workplace. We will take action through prosecution and the fit-and-proper-person test to drive up standards.
Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)
The Minister has spoken a fair bit about the extra powers he will give the Care Quality Commission, but staff at that agency gave the Old Deanery home a clean bill of health in November 2013. Two months later after the “Panorama” revelations they found significant failings. What will the Minister do about inspectors who failed to do their job? Will they be free to carry on as if nothing has happened?
Norman Lamb
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that point. In a way, he makes the case for why the inspection regime needs to be much more robust and not a tick-box exercise. More effective inspection, with inspectors talking to staff and, crucially, relatives of those in the care home, will provide a much better picture of what is going on there. It is for the CQC as the employer to address any concerns it has about the way in which its staff have conducted themselves, but the new tough inspection regime is being introduced, with 1% of care homes already covered. It will be fully implemented by October this year.