Ian Dilks and Sir Julian Hartley are due to appear before the Health and Social Care Committee (Image: Getty)
Bosses at the beleaguered Care Quality Commission watchdog will be forced to account for a litany of failings exposed by the Daily Express.
Ian Dilks and Sir Julian Hartley, chairman and chief executive of the quango, have been hauled in front of MPs.
It is the first time top brass at the regulator have been made to publicly defend their work since the CQC was branded “not fit for purpose” by Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting in what amounted to an effective vote of no confidence.
The duo are set to appear before Parliament’s powerful Health and Social Care Committee on Wednesday.
The 11-member select committee will demand to know what measures are being undertaken to address historic shortcomings which include allegations it has failed to protect those wanting to blow the whistle on substandard care in a sector where it is now routine for families to fork out £1,500 week.
Other areas of concern are so-called revenge evictions, where the frail and elderly are kicked out by care home management in spiteful retribution for relatives flagging poor standards, and the fact 20 per cent of facilities under the CQC’s jurisdiction is now officially rated either inadequate or requires improvement.
Some vulnerable residents are paying £1,500 a week for substandard care (Image: Getty Images)
Helen Wildbore, director of the charity Care Rights UK, said: “Our advice line hears every day from people struggling with the continuing crisis in social care, receiving poor care which jeopardies their dignity and safety. It is unacceptable one in five care homes are still not meeting basic standards.
“With the financial pressures on the system getting worse, we fear this will lead to more homes being forced to close. Older people living in care deserve security in their home – a move can have a devastating impact on their health and wellbeing.”
Last year, Mr Streeting led a chorus of criticism of the CQC in an extraordinary public admonishment.
He said: “It was already clear that the NHS was broken and the social care system in crisis.
“But I have been stunned by the extent of the failings of the institution that is supposed to identify and act on failings. It’s clear to me the CQC is not fit for purpose.”
His broadside came after an independent probe identified “significant internal failings” at the CQC which hampered its ability to spot poor performance at hospitals, care homes and GP surgeries.
The scathing report by Dame Penny Dash found operational flaws meant the regulator was unable to consistently and effectively judge the quality of health and care services, including those in need of urgent improvement. It also found social care providers were waiting too long for their registration and rating to be updated, which had implications on capacity.
An estimated one in five locations the CQC can inspect have never received a rating, some organisations have not been re-inspected for several years, and some inspectors lack experience.
Wes Streeting said he was ‘stunned’ at the extent of CQC failings (Image: PA)
Care homes are rated either outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate, after pre-planned and unannounced inspections.
Earlier this month the Express laid bare the crisis in care revealing how 2,615 care homes – around one in five of those inspected by the CQC – are in the bottom two rankings.
There are 14,516 registered care homes but only 13,844 are currently rated.
An audit by this newspaper showed 143 are inadequate, 2,472 requires improvement, 10,634 good and 595 outstanding.
But the reality could be far worse. The CQC confirmed there are an additional 672 unrated homes, including those recently-registered, or where services have changed legal ownership more than once and their previous rating has been removed.
If a home is rated requires improvement it can mean residents’ safety, health or wellbeing is at risk. Inadequate could see it placed in special measures, or even shut down.
The Dash review identified major shortfalls in the CQC, concluding there was an “urgent need for a rapid turnaround” and that it “had lost credibility in the health and social care sectors”.
The quango blames long-standing issues on a sector-wide crisis, with a perfect storm of unresolved issues including bed-blocking, where patients should not be in hospital but have nowhere to go, is “impacting the quality of care on others”.
Last year Kate Terroni sparked fury after asking for help in defining what good care means. Ms Terroni was chief inspector of adult social care during the crisis, which saw families locked out of care homes and some banned from seeing dying loved ones.
She was made interim chief executive, but left before Christmas with the role temporarily being filled by James Bullion until Sir Julian takes up the post permanently.
A committee spokesman said: “The session will be an opportunity for MPs to question those at the helm of the organisation on the issues raised by Dr Penny Dash in her review of the CQC.”