More than 8,000 GP practices will have to register with a new health and social care inspectorate to show they meet minimum safety and quality standards, the government has announced.
At present, private providers of health and social care services must register with either the Healthcare Commission or the Commission for Social Care Inspection. But both regulators are set to be replaced by a new Care Quality Commission, under legislation now before Parliament.
A consultation document, published on March 25, outlines how the CQC will bring together the existing registration regimes and extend them across the NHS, right down to general practice level.
Read the Department of Health consultation
The new regulator will be able to apply sanctions to any health or social care providers that fail to meet registration standards.
Health minister Ben Bradshaw said: 'More services than ever are now available in GPs' surgeries and community settings, such as those traditionally provided in hospitals, so it is essential that patients know that these services are safe and are of good quality.'
A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association warned there was a danger that registering small GP practices could 'overlap' with the regulation of individual doctors by the General Medical Council.
Dr Michael Dixon, chair of the NHS Alliance, said the registration regime should be 'proportionate'. He added: 'We don't want masses of red tape.'
Source: www.publicfinance.co.uk