Healthcare Commission
The healthcare commission is an independent body, set up to promote and drive improvement in the quality of healthcare and public health.
It's their job to check that healthcare services are meeting standards in a range of areas, including safety, cleanliness and waiting times.
They have a statutory duty to assess the performance of healthcare organisations, award annual performance ratings for the nhs and coordinate reviews of healthcare by others.
Their main duties are to:
- Assess the management, provision and quality of nhs healthcare and public health services
- Review the performance of each nhs trust and award an annual performance rating
- Regulate the independent healthcare sector through registration, annual inspection, monitoring complaints and enforcement
- Publish information about the state of healthcare
- Consider complaints about nhs organisations that the organisations themselves have not resolved
- Promote the coordination of reviews and assessments carried out by themselves and others
- Carry out investigations of serious failures in the provision of healthcare
In carrying out their duties, they are required to pay particular attention to:
- The availability of, access to, quality and effectiveness of healthcare
- The economy and efficiency of the provision of healthcare
- The availability and quality of information provided to the public about healthcare
- The need to safeguard and promote the rights and welfare of children and the effectiveness of measures taken to do so