Recently there has been an increased level of scrutiny around the pressures from regulators, following the tragic death of Ruth Perry after her school’s rating was downgraded following an Ofsted inspection.

One of the concerns was that where Ofsted found any failure, no matter how small, around safeguarding procedures, this would result in a rating of inadequate, which could result in a poor rating being applied to the school for many years and which might be perceived as a badge of failure on the part of the staff concerned.

Ofsted has now announced that inspectors will return within three months to schools graded inadequate overall due to ineffective safeguarding, but where all other judgements were good or better. If the school has been able to resolve the safeguarding concerns, it is likely to see its overall grade improve.

Another concern related to the inconsistency between decisions made by different inspectors, which is a problem that we see reflected across many regulators including Ofsted and the CQC. That problem is made worse by the fact that there are limited ways to effectively challenge the rating decisions made and in the case of the CQC, there is a complete absence of any truly independent appeals process able to resolve any disputes and provide guidance for the regulator to ensure consistency in the future.

To address that very concern, the Government has announced that they will start a consultation on introducing an independent review at an earlier stage in the complaints process following Ofsted inspections. While we welcome that proposal, a similar system allowing an independent review of CQC rating decisions is long overdue.

Whilst it is important that regulators focus on ensuring expected standards are met and that people are kept safe, it is clear that the way some regulators are pursuing these aims is detrimental to those working within regulated settings (and as such, those who are supported by them). 

Given the immense pressure placed upon those working in the care sector, the only hope is that it does not take another tragic case like that of Ruth Duffy to bring about much-needed reform.