Progress on the recommendations for an equal experience of CQC regulation for ethnic minority-led GP practices

Abstract

The Care Quality Commission is the UK's regulator for health and social care providers. It faced criticisms regarding the fairness of its processes from minority-ethnic-led primary care providers in 2020. There were concerns that the regulatory outcomes for minority ethnic-led primary care services were more frequently subject to inspection, were more likely to receive an adverse outcome, suffer a negative impact on their own health/ wellbeing, and inspectors did not give due consideration to the multiple deprivation indices in the population and areas they operated in, as well as the availability of manpower or resources.   A survey conducted by the BAPIO GP forum[1] reported that the inspections were not considered practical or constructive and took the general practice team away from patient care. [2] Of particular concern was the perception that the system was unfair and discriminatory for Black and Asian GPs' small practices and those in the inner city or rural locations with multiple deprivations. The authors urge the CQC to ensure that the profession is supported and that any inspection process is fair and non-discriminatory and improves patient care.  CQC commissioned research to explore the nature of its relationship, or the existence of any causal link, between ethnic minority-led GP practices and regulatory outcomes such as ratings and frequency of inspection. However, in this survey, ethnic minority-led practices were more likely to report that the quality of care improved following a CQC inspection. In this article, the National Primary Care Advisor to CQC explores the findings of this research and outlines the actions in progress to address these concerns.