What is a public interest body?
On Care Opinion, a public interest body is an organisation with a statutory role in relation to the quality or safety of health or social care.
Examples of public interest bodies are:
- Care Quality Commission (in England)
- Healthcare Improvement Scotland (in Scotland)
- Care Inspectorate (in Scotland)
- Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales
- Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (Northern Ireland)
- Local authorities
Why does Care Opinion need to involve public interest bodies?
Our moderation policy allows care providers which are not part of the public sector to make a decision to publish or restrict each story we approve for publication. (Why do we allow this?)
Very occasionally, a provider may restrict a story, which means that the story can't be read by public users. However, we want to ensure that, even if a story is restricted, issues of public interest such as the quality and safety of care are being properly addressed.
So all stories, even those which are restricted, can be seen by public interest bodies. We automatically alert any relevant public interest bodies if a story is restricted, so that they can take action if necessary.
Public interest bodies may also add any public comments they wish, even if a story is restricted.
Where a story has been restricted, we show you which public interest bodies are able to read and act on the story. (See how this looks.)