Regulation of health care in England has two main elements: regulation of the quality and safety of care provided by health care providers, by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and regulation of health care services and governance, the responsibility of NHS England .
State of Care is the CQC’s annual assessment of health care and social care in England. The report looks at the trends, shares examples of good and outstanding care, and highlights where care needs to improve.
Guidance about regulations for all regulated sectors and details about what the CQC focus on when they carry out inspections
The CQC are developing a single assessment framework to regulate in a smarter way, adapting and responding to risk, uncertainty and demand.
The NHS provider licence forms part of the oversight arrangements for the NHS. It sets out conditions that providers of NHS-funded healthcare services in England must meet to help ensure that the health sector works for the benefit of patients, now and in the future.
NHS clinicians are regulated by a respective professional regulatory body, and practising individuals must be registered by law.
The annual external audit is not only a key statutory requirement for NHS organisations, but should provide important and valuable insight into the financial governance of the organisation. The audit process itself can be a challenging one for all involved with tight timelines and complex issues to resolve.