UCL academic to Chair independent health and social care panel

Professor Dame Jane Dacre (UCL Medical School) has been appointed to lead an independent expert panel, which will support Parliament in holding the UK Government to account against its pledges on health and social care. Set up by the cross-party Health and Social Care Committee, the panel will pilot a new evaluation system that will give Care Quality Commission-style ratings on the government's performance in meeting policy commitments, grading them from "inadequate" to "outstanding". The independent and objective evaluation is designed to enhance the select Committee's core task of holding the government and ministers to account. The panel's findings are expected to feed into on-going inquiries carried out by the Committee and be complementary to its work. Launched today (Wednesday 5 August) the independent panel, which includes policy specialists, clinical experts and patients, will first examine progress against targets in maternity services. The Committee say this is an area where evaluation is expected to be of particular value. The panel's Chair, Dame Jane, who is Professor of Medical Education at UCL, said: "I am delighted to work with the Health and Social Care Committee to develop a robust and independent process to evaluate government pledges." Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, said: "We are piloting a new CQC-style ratings system to provide an expert independent assessment of the government's record on key pledges.