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"Has it changed?" he asked. "Has it heck. Now, Furness General Hospital — here we go again — this time it appears the CQC may have failed to pinpoint avoidable deaths in the maternity unit.

"But worse still, there is a suggestion that they covered up a report criticising the truth. What on earth are CQC playing at? Why do they still exist?

"How many chances are they going to get? If they were doctors they would have been struck off.

"I appreciate that there have been changes in management but from what I read in the press, the organisation blunders on in a hail of finger-pointing, backbiting and recrimination, still seeking to justify itself as a credible force, still seeking to blame those who have gone before."

Delegates at the conference passed a motion saying that the association "believes the CQC is not fit for purpose" and that the doctors have "no confidence in the ability of the CQC to regulate health services".

They also said that the information governance function of the regulator should be "removed forthwith".

Three senior officials at the regulator have been accused of agreeing to suppress a report which highlighted its failure to investigate properly the spate of deaths of babies and new mothers at Furness Hospital in Cumbria.

All three officials, the former chief executive Cynthia Bower, her deputy Jill Finney and media manager Anna Jefferson, deny the claims.

A CQC spokesman said: "The Care Quality Commission worked very closely with the British Medical Association during the registration for GP practices in England and representatives from the BMA helped design the way the CQC is now regulating the sector.

"CQC looks forward to continuing to work closely with the BMA as it begins to change the way it regulates health and social care providers."