The CQC

  For the last two years, the very mention of the acronym CQC among dentists and specialists struck fear in our hearts. We suspected they did not understand the dental profession and we certainly did not understand them.
But when it came to our inspection, our experience of the Care Quality Commission at LLOC was both positive and favourable. While she was here, the inspector spoke to three patients to get their opinions of their care. They all reported that we “always discuss options” – not easy when all you offer is orthodontics but we do always try and give our patients choices – and they rated the practice as excellent. We have heard of one or two practices which have had bad reports or been closed down and when we learn why, we are delighted that practices bringing the profession into disrepute are forced to improve or go out of business.
Over time, I believe the dental profession has gradually accepted that there is a role for a body which regulates dental practices. The CQC has a different function from the General Dental Council, which regulates individual registrants. Is it sustainable to have two separate bodies? Funding them both, which is what the profession must do, is likely to become more and more challenging. In the meantime, we have all come to accept the CQC, not least because our patients like to know that we have all been inspected and meet a set of standards.
If you are interested, do read more of the summary of our inspection here: http://www.cqc.org.uk/directory/1-202264139