Last week my private medical practice had its first annual inspection from the Care Quality Commission – a body that regulates all healthcare in the UK. As most of us would be in the lead up to any kind of inspection, stress levels were high.

This year’s inspector noted an organisational flaw I hadn’t noticed. Despite my anxiety I have always welcomed the CQC inspection report because it is designed to help improve quality of an organisation, not hinder or undermine or ‘close it down’.

The CQC define their objectives to “check all hospitals in England to ensure they are meeting national standards and to share their findings with the public”.

But the CQC has hit the headlines for doing the opposite. It was revealed that in 2010 it gave University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust the all clear despite failings that contributed to the death of up to 16 babies. This is horrifying but simplistic finger pointing does little to explain anything.

It has been too easy for politicians to make scapegoats of the officials involved rather than looking at the mechanics of what went wrong. Cynthia Bower who was head of CQC at the time and has welcomed a police investigation, feels she has been ‘hung out to dry’ – without substantial evidence to prove there was a deliberate cover up. Meanwhile the new head of the CQC, ex-MP David Prior, has described the CQC as ‘not fit for purpose’.

This is a powerful yet ultimately meaningless sound bite when anyone examines the general positive work the CQC has done in improving healthcare services. The problem is not with lack of integrity and ethics but in the lack of resources. This is not the sensationalist explanation that wins votes or sells newspapers.

The recent CQC case is comparable to the terrible media battering prescribed to social services when a child dies on their watch. Yes people should be held to account but what of the system changes to ensure such tragedies don’t happen at all?

The CQC in Birmingham and surrounding areas admit they are challenged by recruiting the specialists.

And most people hadn’t even heard of the CQC until now. Education and widely available information is the only way to ensure mistakes do not happen. The blame game helps no one.

* Dr Sarj Bahia is principal GP and medical director of Edgbaston Private Medical Practice www.epmpractice.co.uk