CQC Announces Changes In Regulatory Fees For Providers

Following a public consultation last year and approval from the Secretary of State for Health, the regulator has revised the fees that providers will have to pay from April so that it can effectively register, monitor, and inspect them and make sure that people receive safe, high-quality and compassionate health and adult social care.

The increase for 2015/16 is 9%: CQC recommended this increase in its consultation, as it continues to recover the costs from its new way of regulating health and adult social care across England.

The impact of this is an increase of:

• £69 for a general practice with 10,001 to 15,000 registered patients
• £238 for a care home with 21 to 25 beds
• £6,458 for a NHS trust with an annual turnover of £125 million to £225 million

(Dental providers will pay the same fees as they have done in 2014/15 because the cost of their regulation is recovered fully already.)

In the summer, CQC will introduce the option for providers to pay by instalments and by direct debit, to help them manage their cash flows. CQC will also publish a calculator on its website next month to help providers work out their exact fees for 2015/16, alongside detailed fees guidance.

David Behan, Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission, said: “Our commitment is to make sure that people receive safe, high-quality and compassionate care and we are confident our new way of registering, inspecting and monitoring services allows us to do this… “We understand that the increase in fees is happening at difficult economic time for many providers but we hope that they, and importantly those who use their services, are seeing the benefits of our inspections, which allow us to identify where improvements are needed and to celebrate what services are doing well… “We are determined to deliver value for money by being an efficient and effective organisation.”

CQC has developed its fees strategy for 2015/16 with an advisory panel, which includes representatives from providers across all sectors, and it follows a public consultation last October. CQC expects to consult on its fees strategy for 2016/17 and beyond in the autumn.