The Care Quality Commission’s Bid to Progress

On 20 June 2025, The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (the Bill) was passed through the House of Commons, with 341 MPs voting in favour of the Bill and 291 MPs against the Bill, with a narrow majority of 23 votes.On 20 June 2025, The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (the Bill) was passed through the House of Commons, with 341 MPs voting in favour of the Bill and 291 MPs against the Bill, with a narrow majority of 23 votes.

What’s the issue?

The Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s update in May 2025 inevitably invoked a strong response with many in the health and social care sector. The regulator has openly acknowledged the significant delays that have affected providers in recent months - including in registration, assessment, report publication, and the handling of statutory notifications. 

The adequacy of the current regulatory framework for Psychotherapists and Counsellors has come under increasing scrutiny and it is a complex and nuanced issue.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has implemented a new inspection and regulation regime which is pegged to enhance the regulation of health and social care services. This blog will detail the key changes, their rationale, practical applications, and any early signs of difficulties.

Last week, the Department of Health and Social Care published a white paper, Integration and Innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all (the ‘White Paper’), setting out legislative proposals for a new Health and Care Bill, planned to come into force in 2022. 

Wray v General Osteopathic Council [2020] EWHC 3409 (QB)

Mr Wray (‘Mr W’), an osteopath, appeared before a Panel of the Professional Conduct Committee (‘PCC’) of the General Osteopathic Council (‘GOsC’) after self-reporting a series of events he had been involved in.

All providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (“CQC) must assure themselves that all directors who are responsible for delivering care to service users are fit and proper – in other words, they must be able to diligently carry out their responsibility to ensure the quality and safety of care. This forms part of the providers’ duty to ensure the service is well-led, which is one of the focus points during an inspection. Not only does the CQC monitor compliance at the point of registration, but it is an on-going duty and can lead to enforcement action where it is not met.

The COVID-19 outbreak is new territory, not only for care providers working on the frontline, but also for regulatory bodies. Those that are responsible for caring for vulnerable service users must now do so in an increasingly challenging environment, whilst ensuring that they comply with their professional obligations.

The new Code of Ethics is a product of four years’ work by the UKCP and replaces the previous version, Ethical Principles and Code of Professional Conduct, which was implemented some 10 years ago. The new Code comes into force on 1 October 2019. This means that any complained-of-behaviour that occurs on or after 1 October 2019 will be judged against the new code but conduct that occurs before that date will be judged against the old code.

At the end of last year, the BACP finally published its long awaited revised Professional Conduct Procedure (PCP).  Having consulted on amendments to the PCP as far back as 2015, the sheer length of time it has taken to unveil the revised procedure has not gone unnoticed by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) who only renewed the BACP's accreditation on the condition that the new PCP be published before the end of 2018.  The new PCP only applies to complaints received on or after 1 December 2018.

A paper published by the Professional Standards Authority (“PSA”) last week entitled “Telling patients the truth when something goes wrong” (“the Paper”) addresses the progress of regulators in the Health and Social Care sector in embedding the professional duty of candour over the past 5 years. The Paper highlights the role regulators have played in the development of the Duty of Candour and it’s recognition throughout the Health and Social Care Sector.

On 23 May 2018, a Conduct and Competence Committee ("the Committee") of the Nursing and Midwifery Council ("NMC") determined that the appellant’s fitness to practise as a midwife was impaired by reason of her misconduct and that the appropriate sanction was an order striking her off the register.

On 13 December 2018, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in an appeal by the General Medical Council (the GMC) against a decision made by the High Court to allow an appeal by Dr Hayat. Dr Hayat had been erased from the medical register in February 2017. You can access our blog on the previous High court decision here. 

The General Medical Council (‘GMC’) is urgently checking the qualifications of foreign doctors who were able to register in the UK under a now defunct provision in the Medical Act 1983 (‘the Act’).

Efficient and innovative communication within the healthcare sector is a valuable resource and healthcare professionals are becoming increasingly reliant on the use of social media and messaging apps to communicate and share patient information with one another. However, messages composed and sent within seconds can have serious and lasting professional, legal and regulatory repercussions. 

Case summary of Raychaudhuri v General Medical Council (Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care intervening) [2018] EWCA Civ 2027.

[2018] EWHC 1679 (Admin) before Mr Justice Spencer - The Registrant is a registered osteopath who qualified in 2008. Since qualifying, she worked as an osteopath at various clinics both in the UK and abroad. The Registrant was employed by Weaver House, a professional osteopathy and healthcare practice, in November 2015 as an associate cranial osteopath. 

The professional standards for both UKCP and BACP members are having a revamp; are they clear, understandable and fit for purpose?

Shannett Thompson and Grace Castle provide an update on General Optical Council v Clarke.

The Professional Standards Authority has published its review into the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (‘NMC’) treatment of a number of serious allegations against Furness General Hospital (FGH) midwives in relation to the tragic deaths of babies and some mothers between 2004 and 2016. Although titled a “Lessons Learned Review”, the report does not hold back in launching criticism at the NMC which identified the need to “address very serious concerns about the way in which it deals with families and patients and whether it is a transparent, open organisation”. Indeed, the PSA report catalogues many issues which other regulators, including those operating outside of health and social care, would be advised to consider.