The two main bodies responsible for the day-to-day regulation and oversight of NHS trusts within Camden include NHS England and the Care Quality Commission. While these two bodies have different functions, both work to oversee the regulation of NHS providers such as GPs, hospitals, and dentists within England.

NHS England (NHSE)
The Health and Care Act 2022 merged NHS England and NHS Improvement into a single organisation, with responsibilities for regulation, oversight, and improvement support. NHS England has statutory oversight of both integrated care systems (ICSs) and providers of NHS service. They also have the power to appoint integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS trust chairs and set financial objectives for the systems.

In carrying out their responsibilities, NHS England and ICBs statutory duties include promoting the NHS Constitution, securing continuous improvements in the quality of services commissioned, and reducing inequalities. The duties also include enabling choice and promoting patient involvement, securing integration, and promoting innovation and research.

The main tool through which NHSE regulates providers is the NHS provider license, which was updated in 2023. NHSE's oversight and performance management are primarily exercised through the NHS oversight framework, which applies equally to providers and ICBs. NHS England's specific role in oversight is to oversee the ICB’s delivery of plans and performance, direct oversight of providers' delivery of NHS performance and contribution to effective system working, lead on support for organisations in segmentation, and joint working with other regulators.

Care Quality Commission (CQC)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC’s role is to set out what good care looks like and ensure services meet fundamental standards of care. The Health and Care Act of 2022 led to the CQC being responsible for assessing the performance of integrated care systems (ICSs) and local authorities with regard to their duties under the Care Act of 2014. The CQC monitors the overall performance of ICSs via the registration, inspection, and monitoring of providers.

Individual roles of the CQC include registering care providers, monitoring and rating services, taking action to protect people who use these services, and publishing their views on major quality issues in health and social care. The CQC registers care providers by accessing their legal requirements as well as checking factors related to their suitability as a practice. During a CQC visit, the inspection team meets senior staff and gathers evidence by speaking to people within the practice, observing care, reviewing records, inspecting the place, and looking at documents and policies. More information about the CQC can be found here.