Healthcare Commission warning on safety risk
Government proposals on regulation would weaken safety standards and allow risky services to operate without a licence, the healthcare watchdog has warned.
Healthcare Commission chairman Sir Ian Kennedy has asked health minister Ben Bradshaw for an "urgent discussion" about the new registration framework being phased in between 2009 and 2010.
Trusts and providers will need to comply with a set of standards in order to register with the Care Quality Commission, or face closure. But Sir Ian said government proposals on the registration requirements, outlined in a consultation in March, left gaps in safety, governance, equity, health promotion, information and responsiveness to patients and the public.
"We do not think it is acceptable to water down current standards," Sir Ian wrote. Plans for registration standards on healthcare acquired infections posed "serious risks both of timetabling and unintended effects". The commission says the deadline could leave the public unprotected or result in "excessive enforcement or restrictions".
NHS Direct, the specialist Tavistock and Portman mental health foundation trust, the Health Protection Agency and NHS Blood and Transplant would be out of the system - an "unacceptable" situation.
The commission does not agree that dentists or private doctors should register, and calls proposals for community services a "muddle".
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