Care Quality Commission's Annual Health Check of the Agency
The HPA Act requires us to be accountable for the standards of the healthcare services we provide as if we were an NHS authority, so the agency is subject to the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) ‘Annual Health Check’ against the Department of Health’s ‘Standards for Better Health’.
Twenty (of the twenty four) DH Standards apply to the HPA and the CQC publish the criteria against which the Agency will be assessed on their website at
Overall, there are 40 Standards elements with which the Agency has to comply. The Agency’s Healthcare Standards Implementation Group, in conjunction with the Executive Group, carry out a yearly self-assessment exercise against the standards. The Agency also consults with key stakeholders (NHS Strategic Health Authorities, the Food Standards Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and the Police Authority) on its performance. For the 2008/09 declaration to the CQC, the Agency shows (by 31 March 2009) thirty-seven Standards elements compliant, two non-compliant and one where there is insufficient assurance.
Following approval by the HPA Board, the declaration was submitted to the CQC by its deadline of 1 May.
HPA Core standards declaration 2008/2009 (PDF, 458 KB)
The CQC may conduct an inspection of the Agency in June/July 2009 against Standards for which we have declared compliance for the whole year. It will publish its opinion of the HPA declaration in October 2009, as an overall performance rating for the Agency.
For those standards that have not been met in 2008/09, an action plan has been developed to improve our performance over the coming year.
Last reviewed: 19 May 2009
