The Concordat Burden of Bureaucracy visit

1
The Concordat Burden of Bureaucracy
visit June 2006
Kevin Holton Healthcare Commission
2
Actions to date

• Launch of web based scheduling tool to streamline
  visits (www.concordat.org.uk)
• Regulators information map and protocol to
  encourage information sharing
• Guidelines on recommendations to prevent
  duplication/inconsistencies
• Common cost benefit approach
• Joint studies with Audit Commission, National
  Audit Office and CSCI
• Joint working with CSCI and Mental Health Act
  Commission

3
Success Measures

• The Concordat will demonstrate increased
• co-ordination and collaboration of activity
  between Concordat signatory bodies which will
  contribute to a reduction of overall signatory
  activity impacting on healthcare organisations
• sharing of information between Concordat
  signatory bodies and the removal of duplication
  of information requests
• Concordat signatory bodies will adopt a risk
  based model for assessment
• There will be increased understanding of the
  Concordat by the healthcare organisations being
  inspected and recognition that it has improved
  the co-ordination and effectiveness of regulation
• Concordat signatories will demonstrate compliance
  with the Concordat objectives and demonstrate
  their contribution to the outcome based success
  measures.

4
Ministerial challenges

• Have been set a number challenges by Ministers.
  To
• Use the scheduling site and to encourage staff to
  routinely use the site to help inform local
  visiting activity and share the results of
  inspections.
• More routinely engage with each other at a local
  level.
• Work collectively to ensure that any new
  processes take fully into account information
  that is already available
• Develop a forward planning process so that
  providers know what your plans are before the
  start of the year

5
What we are focusing on now?
Delivering on the existing work streams e.g.
developing the scheduling site to better
streamline visits and post-inspection
reports Delivering on the outcome based, success
measures for the Concordat that were recently
agreed by signatories, potentially looking to
either cap or set specific and quantifiable
targets to reduce activity over the next twelve
months Better aligning information requests and
more routine sharing of information working with
signatories and the Information Centre to ensure
that information is collected once and used many
times Testing the potential for setting up a
pilot that better promotes partnership working
between regulators. Effectively this would mean
that local staff would come together to share
intelligence, agree a common set of risk
thresholds and set a forward plan of activity for
a (number) of willing volunteer(s) pre-cursor
to lead regulator role           
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Government policy on regulation

• Regulate only where necessary
• Changing the approach to risk (on boards and on
  taking risk)
• Set exacting targets for reducing cost of
  regulation
• Greater coordination within, and between, sectors
• Rationalise new public service inspectors
• Health and social care
• Local services
• Children and education
• Criminal justice

7
What next for regulatory framework?

• Alignment of regulation in public/independent
  sector and health/social care by 2008
• Statutory code?
• Gatekeeper role within, and across, sectors?
• More use of others information and findings
• No inspection or form filling without
  justification
• Less cost in health and social care (20
  reduction in overall budget 30 reduction is
  cost to sector) should less burden!

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Conclusion

• Lets identify what we can do here today not get
  bogged down on the complexity
• Government policy is focusing on structural and
  behavioural change we need to do a lot of work
  prior to 2008/09 so that the new regulator can
  hit the road running
• Recognise that regulators themselves are changing
  their approach - in assessment processes and
  working with others what further do they need
  to do?