Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the level of safety of mental health NHS inpatients in private hospitals rated as inadequate or requires improvement by the Care Quality Commission.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. Its remit is to monitor, inspect, assess and regulate services to ensure all patients receive the best level of safety and quality of care. The CQC assess service providers against the fundamental standards of care. Where it finds the safety and quality of care does not meet those standards, it will use its enforcement powers to hold provider to account and drive improvement. CQC also work with stakeholders across the health and care landscape to ensure adequate support is available to help providers improve.