CQC takes action on The Causeway Retreat

15 Jun 2010 10:28 AM

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said yesterday it has taken action to ensure that The Causeway Retreat, on Osea Island in the Blackwater Estuary, Essex, has stopped providing people with treatment for which it is not registered under the Care Standards Act 2000.

Frances Carey, CQC’s East region director, said: “We have been gathering evidence since October last year about the services provided at The Causeway Retreat and our inspectors have made visits to the island.  

“We believe that The Causeway Retreat has provided services as an independent hospital, including medical treatment for people with mental health needs. Such services would legally require the establishment to be registered with CQC.

“On 26 April we wrote to those we believed were carrying on the services, asking them to discontinue those services.

“They gave us a written assurance that from 9 May all the current patients would have left the island, and that there would there be no doctors or nurses involved in providing registrable services. They also stated that from then on they would be providing only services that do not require registration, such as counselling for people recovering from drug or alcohol addiction.

“We will continue to take any necessary steps to ensure that the law is complied with, including unannounced visits.”

Ms Carey said The Causeway Retreat LLP has submitted an application to CQC to be registered as the provider of an independent hospital on Osea Island, and the commission is currently considering this application.

She went on: "We have received information in the past few days that Twenty 7 Management Ltd, which we believe to be the principal organisation involved in The Causeway Retreat, may have gone into liquidation. We are looking into this as part of our wider enquiries, which include the roles of Mr Brendan Quinn and his wife Mrs Lisa Quinn, the two directors and shareholders in Twenty 7 Management Ltd."

Note to Editor:

The Causeway Retreat is not registered with CQC to provide any services. Non-NHS establishments offering medical or nursing care or treatment must be registered with CQC under the Care Standards Act 2000 until 30 September 2010 and after that date under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. Carrying on such a service without being registered is a criminal offence.

For further information please contact the CQC press office on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of all health and adult social care in England. We inspect all health and adult social care services in England, whether they are provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies or voluntary organisations. We also seek to protect the interests of people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act. We make sure that essential common standards of quality are met everywhere care is provided, from hospitals to private care homes, and we work towards their improvement. We promote the rights and interests of people who use services and we have a wide range of enforcement powers to take action on their behalf if services are unacceptably poor.

Our work brings together (for the first time) independent regulation of health, mental health and adult social care. Before 1 April 2009, this work was carried out by the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection.

Our aim is to make sure that better care is provided for everyone, whether it is in hospital, in care homes, in people’s own homes, or anywhere else that care is provided.

Registration: The Health and Social Care Act 2008 introduced a new, single registration system that applies to both health and adult social care.  The new system will make sure that people can expect services to meet new essential standards of quality and safety that respect their dignity and protect their rights.  The new system is focused on outcomes, rather than systems and processes, and places the views and experiences of people who use services at its centre.

Since 1 April 2010, all NHS care providers are required by law to be registered with CQC and must show that they are meeting the essential standards. All adult social care and independent healthcare providers must be registered under the 2008 Act (which replaces the Care Standards Act 2000) from 1 October this year. Registration isn’t just about initial application for registration.  We will continuously monitor compliance with the essential standards as part of a new, more dynamic, responsive and robust system of regulation