Six CQC board directors replaced

The board clearout follows the appointment of a new chair and CEO, after the government declared last year that it had discovered major governance and operational failings.

Of six non-executive directors who attended the Care Quality Commission’s February board meeting, only one (Healthwatch England chair David Croisdale-Appleby) now remains in post, according to its website. Another NED left in January.

The CQC has yet to say which of the NEDs have reached the end of their terms, or why the others left. One, Charmion Pears, joined the board last year, and another two joined in 2023.

The Department of Health and Social Care and the regulator today announced six new board members.

One of the recruits, Richard Barker, former regional director of NHS England’s north regions, will begin in an associate role, then become a full NED once he has finished his current interim role with NHSE and the DHSC, leading their merger.

The other new NEDs are:

• Kay Boycott, who has served on North Central London Integrated Care Board and as chief executive of Asthma and Lung UK, who will chair the audit and risk assurance committee;
• Former CQC and DHSC NED Michael Mire, a former banker and management consultant; 
• Alex Kafetz, a digital health adviser, NED at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, and previously head of strategy at data firm Dr Foster;
• Melanie Williams, director of adult social services in Nottinghamshire and former president of the Association of Directors of Social Services; and 
• Ruth Owen, chief executive at Leonard Cheshire, the disability support provider.

All will join the CQC on 16 June, after which it will hold a board meeting that was delayed last month.

CQC chair Sir Mike Richards — who was appointed earlier this year — said: “CQC is at a critical time, and our board will be central in holding the organisation to account to ensure we make the changes needed. Thank you also to our departing board for all their work.”

The CQC appointed three new NEDs in 2023 after delays getting approval from ministers. Those NEDs — Christine Asbury, Mark Chakravarty, and Ali Hasan — have now left, according to its website. The CQC did not want to comment further.