14/11/05 - David Behan Speaking to the NCA talks about "Myths" surounding new proposed inspection processess.

Myth 1
It will mean only inspecting every 3 years. This is not the case. The simple tick-box approach of doing two Inspections every year for every provider is no longer good enough. It also makes sense to have a 'lighter touch' approach for the best providers. I choose the term 'lighter touch' with care and deliberation. While the frequency of inspections may be reduced, we are not talking about zero contact between one inspection and the next or less rigour in the way we scrutinise services. Our new system is based on the premise of proportionate, risk based regulation.

There will be an annual assessment. We will undertake a number of "themed" inspections. We could do one on medicines or food or dementia mapping. One of the issues about concentrating our major effort on those needing most improvement, is that we rarely get to see and promote good practice. By doing themed inspections we can learn about particular issues and understand how parts of the sector have developed positive ways of resolving them.

The 'every three years' assumption is wide of the mark. I hope we can continue to get this point across, because it is an important one.

Myth 2
It will lead to more inconsistency in judgements than under the previous system. What we are looking for is consistency of judgement. Judgements based on the evidence of what is effective in meeting the needs of people. Consistency is not the same as uniformity. The criticism of the current system, by those of you who run services and by many Inspectors is that the tick box approach does not focus on outcomes, but also that it is driven by a desire for uniformity. We want Inspectors to judge the quality of the services they inspect using their professional knowledge and the evidence of what works. The evidence is that inconsistency is reducing. Only this week I received a letter for a provider in the Midlands whose services were inspected by a number of inspectors who was commenting that variations between services were diminishing. He carries out a regular analysis of inspection reports and has shared the outcome with us. There is an critical issue here which is the role of managers in driving consistency in practice and outcomes. Where there is high staff turnover, where there is turnover of managers, then these are the pre-conditions for inconsistency. For our part we will continue to ensure we have policies which we will implement clearly and consistently. An example is the work we have recently completed on enforcement. We will also continue to ensure we attend to the development of staff to ensure they have the skills, knowledge and competence to complete the work we are asking of them. We will support our people in bringing about the required culture change.

What will success look like?

We will have moved to a culture of improvement not compliance

Service users will have better services and feel more able to influence their services

Innovation will be rewarded and encouraged

The sector will grow to meet increasing and changing demands

People will be able to plan their own services using CSCI to support their decisions

A number of our proposals that people liked most need a change in the regulations or the national minimum standards. A review of these is currently being led by the Department of Health and Department for Education and Skills. Consultation by the Department of Health is currently underway. CSCI will work closely with Ministers to refine the existing way of describing and measuring the quality of services.

Conclusion
The Green Paper and the forthcoming White Paper lays down the challenge of delivering personalised services which put people at the centre;

Excellence in services will be achieved through really listening to people who use services; by investing in staff learning and development; through high quality leadership and through performance management which is embedded in the way organisations operate.

Our plans to modernise regulation will support improvement; they reflect what people have told us they want to see; and we feel meet the challenges for inspectorates set down by the developing policy agenda.

We have the potential to the meet the challenges - commissioners, providers and inspection - and I believe we will. I don't underestimate the challenge of achieving the necessary change - it requires us all to work together in alliances as partners to make this work. However we need to rise to this challenge - the prize of truly people-centred services is worth it.

Source : CSCI