Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what training is available to care inspectors in relation to diet and its impact on overall wellbeing.

As the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors, inspects and regulates services to ensure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. The CQC’s inspectors consider Regulation 14 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, to assess whether people who use services have adequate nutrition and hydration to sustain life and good health.

The CQC can prosecute for a breach of this regulation or a breach of part of the regulation if a failure to meet the regulation results in avoidable harm to a person using the service or a person using the service is exposed to significant risk of harm.

While the CQC’s inspectors are not required to undertake specific mandatory training in relation to diet and Regulation 14, the CQC refers its inspectors to both learning resources produced by Skills for Care and internal resources on nutrition and hydration.