Quality | 2009.12.04
NHS 'super-regulator' chief quits
\'Super-regulator\' CQC confirms \'voluntary\' departure of its chairwoman after heavy criticism over substandard care in Basildon
The head of the NHS\'s watchdog in England has unexpectedly quit, days after it was heavily criticised over how it monitors the quality of patient care in hospitals.
The Care Quality Commission said last night that Lady Barbara Young\'s decision to resign as chairwoman was voluntary and was conveyed to the health secretary, Andy Burnham, on 26 November "after careful prior reflection".
However the Health Service Journal reported on its website that she had resigned after a "difficult" meeting with Burnham that same day, when it had emerged investigators were being sent into Basildon hospital in Essex because dozens of patients are thought to have died due to inadequate care.
The month before, the commission had rated the quality of care at the hospital as "good" — which led to a major row about the credibility and trustworthiness of the regulator\'s rankings.
However, Young said last night: "Having overseen the major task of creating a single regulator for health and social care and pointed it in the right direction, I have decided it will be for others to take it forward." And a friend said: "She jumped. It\'s got nothing to do with Basildon. She just decided that she didn\'t want to do it."
Sources at the Department of Health added: "This was completely her own decision. There\'s no ill-feeling or secret story behind this."
The timing of Young\'s departure follows huge controversy over whether the commission is doing enough for patient care at the 152 NHS hospital trusts across England. The Conservatives have pledged an overhaul of how it assesses performance if they are elected, including less reliance on "tickbox" methods of self-assessment and more unannounced inspections.
Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: "This is a massive blow to the government. To lose the chair of its new flagship health regulator just months after it was created is extraordinary. We need clarity about why this has happened, because few people will accept that she has decided to walk away so calmly."
Young became the commission\'s first chairman when it became operational in April, being called the "super-regulator" because it merged three previous watchdogs, the Healthcare Commission, Commission for Social Care Inspection, and Disability Rights Commission.
Young was previously chief executive of the Environment Agency. She has also been chairman of English Nature, the BBC\'s vice-chairman, and the RSPB\'s chief executive, and is involved in the Institute for Public Policy Research. She became a Labour peer in 1997 as Baroness Young of Old Scone, but later became a "non-affiliated" member of the House of Lords.
Burnham thanked Young for helping to establish the commission, saying that under her direction it "has already made a strong impact in putting patients and users of social care services at the heart of its mission to ensure the highest standards of care and patient safety. She has set the organisation on a clear path for the future and I am grateful to her for all her hard work and dedication."
She will be replaced from 1 January by her deputy, Dame Jo Williams, as acting chairman until a replacement is found. "[The] board were sad to hear that Barbara has decided to move on, both on a professional and personal level", said Williams. "Barbara has played a major role in forging strategy for the next five years."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/d[...]ra-young-quits-hospitals-essex
