Inadequate assurance and review of commissioned care services and care packages
First to latest report 29 Jul 2022 — 2 Apr 2026
Reports that mention this concern
4
Times this concern has been raised
5
Stated actions linked to this concern
9
What this concern includes
Includes mandatory reviews, quality checks and assurance mechanisms for commissioned, privately arranged or packaged care provision.
What is not included
Direct care-delivery failures with no commissioning or assurance deficiency
Clinical care-plan review within a provider
Regulatory inspection outside the commissioning relationship
Trends
Reports over time
Reports mentioning this concern, over time
Reports about this concern issued each year.
* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.
Most frequent recipients
Most frequent recipients
Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.
NHS England2
Cygnet Health Care Limited1
Department of Health and Social Care1
Multi-Care Community Services Suffolk1
NHS North West London Integrated Care Board1
Executive non-departmental public body2
Integrated care board1
Ministerial department1
Private limited company1
Type not available1
Reports and published responses 4 reports
See individual reports that have raised this concern, and the actions taken in response
Suffolk
Concerns raised1
Inadequate assurance of commissioned care services
This report raised 6 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked response
Multi-Care Community Services Suffolk Ltd
Stated actions An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.4
Multi-Care Community Services Suffolk Ltd
Audit care records and care-plan activities, addressing identified concerns and non-compliance.
Multi-Care Community Services Suffolk Ltd
Implement weekly governance meetings and strengthened supervision, performance management, auditing, competency review, senior oversight and stakeholder feedback processes.
Multi-Care Community Services Suffolk Ltd
Commission and maintain a quarterly programme of external audits and service reviews for independent scrutiny.
Multi-Care Community Services Suffolk Ltd
Review quality-assurance reporting directly at Board level to maintain accountability for care quality and compliance.
Manchester South
Concerns raised1
Lack of a mechanism to ensure appropriate quality of privately arranged care
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked response
Department of Health and Social Care
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
Department of Health and Social Care
Local authority safeguarding duties provide a mechanism to investigate private home-care arrangements where poor quality places an adult at risk.
Disputes the concernThe respondent disagreed with part of the concern or the basis for it.
South Yorkshire (Western)
Concerns raised1
Failure of commissioners to obtain assurance about ligature practice and individual safety
This report raised 11 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked responses
Cygnet Health Care Limited
NHS England - North East and Yorkshire
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.2
NHS England - North East and Yorkshire
Weekly meetings, reports, care-plan discussions and review of serious incidents were considered sufficient commissioner oversight of ligature risks.
Existing arrangements considered sufficientThe respondent said that existing arrangements were sufficient, so no further action was needed.
Cygnet Health Care Limited
NHS England is responsible for commissioning and assuring the quality of the service, including management of risk and ward culture.
Redirects responsibilityThe respondent said that another organisation was responsible for deciding or taking action.
West London
Concerns raised2
Failure to conduct mandatory care-package quality checks and reviews
Lack of scrutiny and reconciliation of the care package
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Linked response
NHS North West London
Stated actions An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.5
NHS North West London
Conduct scheduled and needs-based care-package reviews with families and multidisciplinary teams, formally record and panel-discuss them, and monitor performance through senior managers.
NHS North West London
Hold quarterly case-manager meetings with commissioned providers’ clinical leads and the child’s lead professional to identify concerns and monitor whether clinical needs are safely met.
NHS North West London
Issue NHS standard contracts requiring provider quality checks, monthly care reports, staff competency assurance and care-package risk assessments.
NHS North West London
Conduct quarterly monitoring meetings between senior continuing-care managers, the care brokerage officer and commissioned care providers.
NHS North West London
Benchmark and peer-review care packages to identify support hours meeting assessed clinical needs and promote safe, fair and consistent provision.
Actions and positions describe what organisations say in published responses. Implementation is not independently verified.
Actions and positions describe what organisations say in published responses. Implementation is not independently verified.