Q&A


An inspector calls P


Professor Steve Field speaks to Summons about how the CQC wants to “raise the bar” in quality primary care


ROFESSOR Steve Field joined the Care Quality Commission as chief inspector of general practice in October 2013 but has long been a key


player in NHS reform in England. In 2011 he chaired the NHS Future Forum which led


to key changes in the bill that became the Health and Social Care Act. He then took on the role as deputy national medical director of the NHS Commissioning Board, with lead responsibility for addressing health inequalities in line with the NHS Constitution. Professor Field was also chairman of council of the


Royal College of General Practitioners between 2007 and 2010. He continues to practise as a GP at Bellevue


Medical Centre in Birmingham and is also chairman of the National Inclusion Health Board which is working to improve health outcomes among the homeless, migrants, sex workers and other vulnerable groups. He is an honorary professor at both the


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University of Birmingham and the University of Warwick and received a CBE for his services to medicine in the 2010.


How do you think the new approach to general practice inspections by the CQC will lead to improvements in primary care in England? When I became chief inspector of GPs last year, for me the focus of CQC inspections was very much about looking at and reporting on what GP practices were doing wrong or could improve on rather than celebrating the good and outstanding in the sector. Although there will always be a place for identifying inadequate care to protect people at risk, I think by also celebrating the best we can help raise the bar for others and help them to serve their communities better. We must not tolerate inadequate practice. Te vast majority of practices are trying to provide good care. I


SUMMONS


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