What is CQC?

From hospitals to home-visits, all people should receive quality treatment from healthcare providers. To ensure quality services, these businesses must comply with independent regulators – one of which is the CQC.

CQQ stands for ‘Care Quality Commission’. They ensure health and social care services uphold appropriate standards when providing medical assistance to people. From fines to closures, employers could end up facing serious business detriments if they fail to comply.

In this guide, we’ll look at what the CQC is, who they regulate, and how healthcare providers can provide quality services to the public.

What is the CQC?

The CQC is an independent regulator for the health and social sector in England only – not the UK. They report to Parliament through the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

The CQC regulate:

1. Providers of healthcare services to people of all ages.
2. Providers of social care services to adults in care homes, community centres, and in people’s homes.
3. Providers of services for people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act 1983.
4. Providers of health and care services for children or young people.

Their ultimate aim is to ensure all health and safety services meet proper CQC fundamental standards needed when providing people with care. This applies to local authorities, independent providers, the NHS, and certain volunteer organisations.

Which businesses are regulated by the CQC?

Apart from a few exceptions, the CQC inspects all health and social care providers in England. These businesses include both NHS and private care providers.

Here are examples of health and care service providers who are regulated by the CQC:

• Care homes: For example, residential care homes and nursing homes.
• Hospitals: For example, NHS and independent (private) hospitals.
• Dental services: For example, NHS and private dentists.
• Clinics: For example, family planning and weight-loss clinics.
• Homecare agencies: For example, mobile doctors and respite caregivers.
• GP services: For example, walk-in centres and out-of-hour services.
• Mental health: For example, talking therapies and support groups.
• Community-based services: For example, substance abuse and child health services.

Is the CQC a legal regulatory body?

Yes, is the short answer. Any business who provides (or intends to provide) health or social care in England must register with the CQC. 

This is a legal requirement outlined under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. Employers must apply to register even if their services are on a regular or permanent basis.

The CQC aims to protect the rights of vulnerable people, including those restricted under the Mental Health Act 1983. Common safeguarding issues reported to the CQC include:

• Abuse or allegations.
• Incidents that need to be reported to or investigated by the police.
• Serious injuries.
• Death of service users.
• Applications to deprive someone of their liberty (under the Mental Capacity Act 2005).
• Events that prevent or threaten providers from safe working. 
• Unauthorised absences. 

How to ensure your healthcare service complies with the CQC 

Every healthcare provider – NHS or private – is inspected, regulated, and rated by the CQC. It’s unavoidable in England; so, the best action to take is to understand what your obligation are.

Whilst it may include various steps to follow, the end objective is the same – to provide a quality of care to all people who need it. Let’s look at how to ensure your healthcare service complies with CQC requirements:

Apply for CQC registration

The first step employers need to take is applying to register with the CQC. This is a legal requirement for all healthcare providers, under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. 

Employers must provide evidence proving their care service meets Government standards. If the CQC accepts the application, they’ll initiate an inspection. These are done regularly, but they can be unannounced (this depends on the service in question). 

The CQC will then visit your site (or sites) where appropriate checks are started. They’ll create a report based on their findings and your compliance based the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (and other relevant legislation).

Acknowledge the investigation report

The first step to take is acknowledging the five key steps involved in CQC reporting. These include:

1. Is it safe?: Is the patient protected from abuse and avoidable harm?
2. Is it effective?: Does your service achieve satisfactory results and help the patient maintain a good quality of life? Is there evidence available that presents this?
3. Is it caring?: Is staff treating the patient with kindness, compassion, dignity, and respect?
4. Is it responsive?: Are services organised to help meet the patient’s needs?
5. Is it well-led? Are employers providing high-quality care to meet the 

Receive your inspection rating

After all appropriate inspections and reports are completed, the CQC regulator will pass a rating. There are four ratings they’ll issue to healthcare services:

1. Outstanding: ‘The service is performing exceptionally well’.
2. Good: ‘The service is performing well and meeting the CQC’s expectations’.
3. Requires Improvement: ‘The service isn’t performing well as it should be’.
4. Inadequate: ‘The service is performing badly’.

Healthcare providers who receive a 3 or 4 rating will specifically be told what areas they failed on. They’ll also receive advice on how to make improvements, as well as take appropriate action if necessary.

What are the consequences of failing CQC standards?

If the CQC meets a health care service that’s failed to meet legal CQC regulations, they’ll take appropriate action. This is known as ‘enforcement’. 

Depending on the issue, providers could face a number of enforcement actions. For example:

• Issuing a warning to make improvements as soon as possible.
• Restricting a specific care that’s provided by the service.
• Ceasing admissions to the service.
• Issuing fixed penalties and fines.
• Suspending or cancelling the service’s CQC registration.
• Actioning legal prosecution.

Do the CQC publish ratings publicly? 

Yes, once the inspection report is completed, the CQC will publish the results publicly. The rating data allows the public to make their own decisions on what service provider they’d like to go with.

The CQC will publish the inspection report through various methods. For example:

• Publishing reports on their website.
• Publishing summaries of the report on their website. (This is done through a care directory of every service).
• Issuing local media releases of any enforcement action taken against a service. (This usually happens when a provider has been non-compliant with one or more regulations).

All of these steps are integral requirements outlined by the CQC. In the end, their role is to ensure service providers are offering quality care to the public. CQC reports and ratings help establish a clear image on these businesses for everyone to see.

Get expert advice on CQC compliance with Peninsula

Everyone is entitled to quality care when it comes to their health and wellbeing. With regulators like the CQC, healthcare sector jobs are able to provide their services to the public whilst adhering to all their legal requirements.

Peninsula offers expert advice on CQC compliance. We offer 24-hour H&S advice – ensuring your business runs in an appropriate and lawful manner. That's not all, we have created a free risk assessment in care template for you to download and use when required.

Want to find out more? Contact us on 0800 028 2420 and book a free consultation with one of our Health and Safety consultants today.