A 'distortion of priority' says Stephen Dorrell

A group of MPs says patients have been put at risk by what it calls an unacceptable fall in the number of inspections of hospitals and care homes in England.

The Care Quality Commission is responsible for ensuring minimum standards are maintained, partly through regular inspections.

But the Health Select Committee says, in the year to April, it instead gave priority to administering a new system for licensing all health care providers.

Speaking to the BBC, Chairman of the Health Select Committee Stephen Dorrell, says there was a 'distortion of priority'.