CQC and PHSO memorandum of understanding
Morecambe Bay Investigation · Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation · Issued 3 March 2015 · Addressed to: CQC
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The relationship between the investigation of individual complaints and the investigation of the systemic problems that they exemplify gave us cause for concern, in particular the breakdown in communication between the Care Quality Commission and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman over necessary action and follow-up. We recommend that a memorandum of understanding be drawn up clearly specifying roles, responsibilities, communication and follow-up, including explicitly agreed actions where issues overlap. Action: the Care Quality Commission, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Morecambe Bay Investigation, Report of the Morecambe Bay Investigation · 3 Mar 2015 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- The government asked the CQC and Ombudsman to keep the MoU under regular review (Learning Not Blaming, Cm 9113, Department of Health, July 2015).
- The CQC and PHSO continue to operate under joint working arrangements for information sharing on quality concerns (CQC).
Sources
Response — verbatim from government
●CQC
90. We accept this recommendation. The Investigation found that the lack of co
ordination between the Care Quality Commission and the Parliamentary and Health
Service Ombudsman was a contributory factor to the ongoing inability of the wider
system to identify and act on failings at the Trust.
A new Memorandum of
Understanding between the Care Quality Commission and the Parliamentary and
Health Service Ombudsman was signed in September 2013 which outlined how the
two organisations will collaborate, co-operate and share information relating to their
respective roles.
91. We have asked the Care Quality Commission and the Ombudsman to keep this
Memorandum of Understanding under regular review and to keep it up to date.
CQC · 16 Jul 2015 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 31 Dec 2015 Memorandum of understanding established between CQC and PHSO for information sharing and coordination. Source →
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.