Bribery, Corruption and Blackmail - Complaints Disciplinary and Dismissals

The request was successful.

Dear Care Quality Commission,

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been accused of
bribery and or
corruption and or
blackmail in the past 3 years.

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been investigated by the CQC for
bribery and or
corruption and or
blackmail in the past 3 years.

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been dismissed as a result of being found guilty of misconduct in office based on findings of
bribery and or
corruption and or
blackmail in the past 3 years.

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been prosecuted as a result if being dismissed for
bribery and or
corruption and or
blackmail in the past 3 years.

Yours faithfully,

G Virdee

Information Access, Care Quality Commission

Dear G Virdee,

 

I acknowledge receipt of your correspondence dated 16 July 2020, in which
you made a request for information.

 

Your request is as follows:

 

“I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been accused of bribery
and or corruption and or blackmail in the past 3 years.

 

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been investigated by the
CQC for bribery and or corruption and or blackmail in the past 3 years.

 

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been dismissed as a
result of being found guilty of misconduct in office based on findings of
bribery and or corruption and or blackmail in the past 3 years.

 

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been prosecuted as a
result if being dismissed for bribery and or corruption and or blackmail
in the past 3 years.”

 

CQC will consider your request in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

 

Our statutory deadline for response is 13 August 2020.

 

As you are aware, the health and social care system will be experiencing
significant pressure due to the Covid-19 (corona virus) pandemic. We
expect these pressures to continue for several months.

 

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is currently dealing with these
pressures in a number of ways, including:

 

o Releasing many of our staff to support front-line care and other
priority national and local services,
o [1]Stopping routine inspections and adapting our processes to monitor
and act where we identify clear risk of harm,
o Providing advice, support and coordination across health and social
care,
o Adapting to new ways of working in the current situation.

 

The work necessary to make these changes, along with anticipated staff
sickness and the release of our colleagues to support front line care, is
likely to significantly impact upon the resource that we have available to
respond to requests for information over the coming months.

 

We are continuing to handle and respond to requests for information, and
we are still making every effort to comply with the deadlines. We
recognise the importance of maintaining your right to information and of
transparency and openness.

 

You can assist CQC in the work we are doing to support the NHS and other
parts of the health and social sector:

 

o Please be patient if the response to your request is delayed. We will
try to respond to your request as quickly as possible, and we will try
to keep you informed if the response is delayed - but this may not
always be possible.
o If your request is urgent, consider whether you can simplify it. If
you can be clearer about the information you need then it may be
quicker and easier for us to deal with. For example; Do you only need
information between certain dates? Are you looking for information
only on a specific issue that would help us target our searches? If
so, please let us know so we can avoid any unnecessary work.
o If your request is not urgent, please consider withdrawing it for now.
You can do that by responding to this email with your name and request
number (beginning CQC IAT 2021 xxxx) and telling us that you wish to
withdraw the request. You will be able to re-submit your request at a
later date.
o Communicating with us by email, rather than by post, where possible.
Mail is likely to be delayed due to staffing disruptions in our mail
room.
o If you need to contact CQC about any matter apart from your request
for information use [2][email address] or our [3]online contact
form
o If you have also made information requests to other health or social
care organisations, please consider whether you can take similar steps
to help reduce the burden on them too.

 

You can read the latest government information and advice on corona virus
[4]here

 

Thank you for your support and patience at this time.

 

Regards

 

On behalf of:

Information Access Team

Regulatory Customer & Corporate Operations 

 

Care Quality Commission

Citygate

Gallowgate

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE1 4PA

 

The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and
adult social care services in England. [5]www.cqc.org.uk. For general
enquiries, call the National Customer Service Centre (NCSC) on 03000
616161 or email [6][email address]

 

Personal data is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) and relevant data protection law. Information on the
processing of personal data by CQC can be found at
[7]www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/our-policies/privacy-statement

 

Statutory requests for information made under access to information
legislation such as the Data Protection Act 2018, GDPR and the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 should be sent to: [8][CQC request email]

 

 

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References

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Information Access, Care Quality Commission

1 Attachment

Dear G Virdee

 

I write in response to your correspondence of 16 July 2020 in which you
asked for the following:

 

“I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been accused of bribery
and or corruption and or blackmail in the past 3 years.

 

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been investigated by the
CQC for bribery and or corruption and or blackmail in the past 3 years.

 

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been dismissed as a
result of being found guilty of misconduct in office based on findings of
bribery and or corruption and or blackmail in the past 3 years.

 

I would like to know how many CQC inspectors have been prosecuted as a
result if being dismissed for bribery and or corruption and or blackmail
in the past 3 years.”

We attach our Decision Notice which provides you with our response to your
request and thank you for contacting CQC.

 

Kind regards

 

Information Access team

Governance and Legal Services

Regulatory Customer & Corporate Operations

Care Quality Commission
Citygate

Gallowgate
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 4PA

 

The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and
adult social care services in England. [1]www.cqc.org.uk. For general
enquiries, call the National Customer Service Centre (NCSC) on 03000
616161 or email [2][email address]

 

Personal data is processed in accordance with the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) and relevant data protection law. Information on the
processing of personal data by CQC can be found at
[3]www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/our-policies/privacy-statement

 

Statutory requests for information made under access to information
legislation such as the Data Protection Act 2018, GDPR and the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 should be sent to: [4][CQC request email]

 

-------------- The contents of this email and any attachments are
confidential to the intended recipient. They may not be disclosed to or
used by or copied in any way by anyone other than the intended recipient.
If this email is received in error, please notify us immediately by
clicking "Reply" and delete the email. Please note that neither the Care
Quality Commission nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses
and it is your responsibility to scan or otherwise check this email and
any attachments. Any views expressed in this message are those of the
individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be
the views of the Care Quality Commission. Information on how the Care
Quality Commission processes personal data is available here
http://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/our-polic...

References

Visible links
1. http://www.cqc.org.uk/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/our-polic...
4. mailto:[CQC request email]