Talk to CQC about the health and/or social care you receive and you could win a £300 Love2Shop voucher *NOW CLOSED*

I gave the CQC feedback about my mother's care in a care home. We went through the whole complaints procedure for over a year.
At the final meeting, we were told that the CQC had stopped the complaint about the home six months earlier, and since then our complaint had been about the CQC's handling of the complaint.
This was news to us.
We then wrote to two MPs, Alan Johnson, who was MP for the area that the home was in, and John Prescott, who was MP for my sister, and the home where my mother died.
Neither of them even had the decency to reply.

Wry smile at the idea of the CQC wanting us to share our experiences of care.

I'm afraid I can't say I approve of £300 of taxpayers money being spent in this way. GP leaders have voted for the CQC to be decommissioned and the money be reinvested in frontline services.

The near-unanimous vote at the LMCs Conference saw GPs sharing their experiences of the CQC’s inspection process, which was described as ‘incompetent and bullying’.

It's obviously a cheap way of them getting information, RAF.
I feel sorry for the CQC in a way, as they have had cuts along with the rest of government departments. It's like HMRC being reprimanded for not doing enough to stop tax fraud while at the same time having their offices closed and employees made redundant.
CQC seem to be given more and more to do, with less resources.

One small example from the Grant Thornton report in August 2012. Chief executive David Behan commissioned a report by management consultants Grant Thornton. The report examined the CQC's response to complaints about baby and maternal deaths and injuries at Furness General Hospital in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and was instigated by a complaint from a member of the public and "an allegation of a "cover-up" submitted by a whistleblower at CQC. It was published on 19 June 2013.

Among the findings, the CQC was "accused of quashing an internal review that uncovered weaknesses in its processes" and had allegedly "deleted the review of their failure to act on concerns about University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust. One CQC employee claimed that he was instructed by a senior manager "to destroy his review because it would expose the regulator to public criticism. The report concluded: "We think that the information contained in the [deleted] report was sufficiently important that the deliberate failure to provide it could properly be characterised as a 'cover-up'. David Prior, who joined the commission as chairman in January 2013, responded that the organisation's previous management had been "totally dysfunctional" and admitted that the organisation was "not fit for purpose".

It still isn't.

It is very hard to feed back about care when you are leaving your loved on in a vulnerable place, with few options available to them. Where can you go? Only a few gatekeepers can access that power and can make life very difficult and unpleasant for those using it. You also have the feeling of helplessness that, those you feedback to would have no position to empower change, so there is little point in starting the process.

Chair of the CQC now is no longer Prior. He's someone who used to be on the board of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
That's probably why they only want to pay £300 for all the information they could get from us.
Me, cynical?

I give feedback whenever possible, I have had various help with social and healthcare from occupational therapists through to alteration and adaptations in my home. Without these changes my life would be far more difficult. When I've been given such good care I believe it important to give good positive feedback as the hardworking staff that have improved my life deserve to be recognised for their hard work and caring attitude. At the same time if ever I've had a problem ( which is quite rare but has happened) I believe positive feedback on the problem can help the awareness to rectify it . How can people know if no one ever says anything?

My father is a resident in a nursing home which the CQC deemed to be "unsafe". On reading the report, I could hardly believe that they were talking about the same home. While they recognised that there were areas in which they could make improvements, the staff were devastated by the findings. I have found my Father's care to be consistently good and he is handled with understanding and compassion. There are a few instances when this doesn't happen, mainly when agency staff are brought in to cover nights, and I always give feedback to the manager if I feel it is necessary. Staff need more training and of course, better pay to do what is an extremely difficult job. We seem to have fallen into a culture where people don't have any pride in the jobs that they do or respect for others and until the carers are recognised and valued as professionals, then this may always be the case.
I found the whole process of getting dad moved out of hospital (where he was clearly bed blocking ) made unneccessarily difficult by social workers and admin staff at the Local Authority dragging their heels.

Minimum wage going up to £7.20 an hour from tomorrow, Megram. I wonder how many staff jobs will be cut because of it.

Yes, durhamjen, whilst I'm pleased that the minimum wage is being increased, I fear you may be right. No doubt the fees will increase too.

I have found to my horror that staffing levels are 1-12 in nursing homes. How is it possible to give good care with that low level of staffing. I worked in social care in ACS (adult care services) for people with a disability and the staffing levels are 1-3.

Home care is even worse with 15/20 minutes allowed per client, I just hope I never need such `care`.

Where did you find that out, chrismse?
Is it legal?

Dispatches on Channel 4 tonight about the scandal of pensioners who have to rely on council-funded home care, chrismse.

I went to the trouble of doing a report on the Radiotherapy Department at my local hospital as I knew that department had been missed out on the last CQC visit. Had it accepted on website, but never heard anything after.
The next time I went into the same hospital I chose to do a report on the NHS Choices site for that hospital. There was a technical problem and couldn't get it to upload. Went to the button for technical issues and the guy couldn't be more helpful. Uploaded for me and got the glitch sorted - apparently the uploading didn't like speech marks. Got a reply from hospital and was glad they found my comments helpful. Would definitely do that again rather than contact the CQC.

Spoke to a friend last week who had just spent three weeks in a Norfolk Hospital .
He is a wheel chair user and is 6 foot plus.He was placed in a normal bed which was to short for him.He told them this but they did nothing.He stubbed his toe on the end of the bed as a result which then became infected..He got bed sores.He said the standard of nursing care was appalling. When discharged he saw his GP who treated the toe which had infected to the bone and thought it may have to be amputated. He is still getting treatment from his GP.

I tried to do the survey but it wouldn`t accept the name of my gp practice . I HAVE entered the correct name of the medical centre so tried the trust name and the Gp s name but none would be accepted

I have two questions about this:

1. If I fill in the questionnaire, will it really be confidential? I know GNHQ would never divulge any RL info to other parties, but....

2. What will happen as a result of the feedback we give on a service? Will anyone act on it, in terms of that particular service?

I would never make a complaint because of fear of repercussions.

"If I fill in the questionnaire, will it really be confidential?"

From personal experience, no absolutely not. Neither is the "independent" advocacy service.

"What will happen as a result of the feedback we give on a service?"

They become very vindictive. You can't expect much support from the general public either, as Julie Bailey found to her cost.

I gave the CQC lots of feedback over the lack of care that my mother suffered at Stepping Hill Hospital. I was told they don't actually deal with individual cases but they do go in and do unannounced visits. I directed them to the ward that they ought to go and visit unannounced and told them what sort of documentation to ask for e.g records of the rehabilitation work which was supposedly going on but which we were never able to see. I also asked them to change the 'smiling face of the NHS' at that hospital. When I have asked to see the CQC report I have so far been told it is not yet available. But in my opinion, backed up with copious notes and photos, my mother's death occurred earlier than it should have partly because of the poor care in one or more wards there. But then, the CQC don't deal with individual cases.

Crikey, Crun, I looked at Threads I'm On, and imagined you would be ridiculing my cynicism and telling me that of course the CQC were to be trusted, what's wrong with me to be having such fears.

But no.

And I'm sorry you had whatever personal experience you did have.

My mother was in care homes, a Bupa one the a private one. Bupa is not as it says on tv, I would never use them for anyone again, they are short staffed and not very well trained. The private one was also bad. The trouble is most of the staff are not careing enough to them it's just a job. They don't care about the people they look after. I have also worked in care homes and to be honest I don't think I'll ever work in one again. Like I said before most of the staff don't give a damn it's just a job. Same as the owner's to them each person is a money sign and I couldn't work like that because I actually did care. Don't get me started on the CQC if they did their job properly people would be looked after properly, they don't always act on things that have been reported and why on earth do they always announce their visits? They would see the true nature of the care if they turned up unannounced. That's why care homes are getting good ratings. They don't see the real stuff it's time they sorted themselves out and did their jobs properly. It really makes my blood boil. There rant over lol.

We lived for over 40 years of married life in a small town. My husband health is failing,his memory is poor and he gets very agitated and quite depressed. The gp surgery offered no help and seemed to be staffed by every changing part timers. We never got to see the same person twice and were given no help or support.
We have since moved to be near our family who are very supportive.
Our new gp surgery have been amazing! We were both given a general health check when we joined. My husband was referred to a constant who diagnosed altzhimer/ dementia and he was given a drug to help with the symptoms. We were encouraged to attend a group meeting by the specialist nurse who visited us at home on a number of occasions. We are regularly contacted by the altzhimer society and carers groups and offered support for both my husband and I.
What a difference a location makes, we see the same medical team who know us and are aware of my husbands medical needs. SO GLAD WE MOVED,WELL DONE To Our NEW TEAM.

I think this is a good ideea. Thank you for the opportunity. I was a Senior Mental Health Nurse for many years. Have been subject to inspection myself. I understand the standards. And met them. I do think its alaways important to give feedback. However, there does not seem to be much reward.