Mike Richards has ”never been politically interfered with”

Mike Richards is well known in the UK - former Cancer Tzar, he now heads up the Care Quality Commission - regulator of all health and social care services, and therefore the body responsible for inspecting hospitals and GP practices. In this interview, BMJ’s head of news and views, Rebecca Coombes went to the CQC’s headquarters in London, and spoke to Mike Richards - who defends the record of hospital inspection on his watch. This is an edited version of the interview - read the full write up: http://www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3567