Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to end single-word ratings for Care Quality Commission assessments.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is currently focussing on making the improvements recommended in the reviews carried out by Dr Penny Dash, Sir Professor Mike Richards, and Professor Vic Raynor. This includes work to develop new ratings characteristics, make changes to how the CQC uses scoring in assessments, and develop a new handbook for providers, which will explain clearly how assessments are carried out.

A specific review of one-or two- word ratings for health and social care providers is therefore not a priority currently, but will be kept under review.