Another Care Quality Commission report – another ghastly story about elderly patients being neglected. Local government managers might well be thinking: 'there but for the grace of God, go I'. Davy Jones muses on parallels between the NHS and local government.

Reading the Care Quality Commission report on how one fifth of hospitals might be breaking the law on their poor care for the elderly, it is a salutary reminder of the value of what have become dirty words in recent years – regulation and inspection.