INSPECTIONS by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) cannot be trusted, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said today, suggesting that England’s health and social care regulator is “not fit for purpose” and needs “radical reform.”

An independent review identified “significant internal failings” affecting the commission’s ability to identify poor performance at hospitals, care homes and GP practices.

Responding to the findings, Mr Streeting said he had not anticipated the regulator would have “failed to such an extent,” adding that members of the public looking at ratings on the website should “take them with a pinch of salt.”