Insights
Notes on clinical governance, evidence trails, and what CQC actually looks at.
Written for owners and registered managers of small independent providers. No filler. No SEO-bait. The bones of what an ex-CQC inspector actually saw working and not working inside the regulator.
Assessment framework
The CQC 2026 draft framework for hospitals: what is sector-specific
The hospitals companion to our main explainer. What the secondary and specialist care draft asks that the others do not: deterioration tools, flow and discharge, split clinical and corporate governance, and benchmarked outcomes.
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Assessment framework
The CQC 2026 draft framework for primary and community services: what is sector-specific
The primary and community companion to our main explainer. What this draft asks that the others do not: continuity over time, access and digital exclusion, delegation across the team, and sustainability in scope.
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Assessment framework
The CQC 2026 draft framework for mental health: what is sector-specific
The mental health companion to our main explainer, and the widest set of differences. Restrictive practice, Mental Health Act governance under the reformed 2025 Act, disproportionate detention and physical-health monitoring.
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Evidence
CQC local authority assessments: what care providers should learn
CQC assessed councils, not individual providers. But the first national local-authority report gives care providers a useful signal about safeguarding, prevention, unpaid carers, transitions and commissioning evidence.
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Safety
CQC controlled drugs annual update 2025: what providers should check in 2026
CQC's 2025 controlled-drugs report is not only a pharmacy story. What CQC-regulated independent providers should be able to show for prescribing, storage, communication, discrepancies and oversight.
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Safety
Lone working policy and procedure: what CQC looks for in care
A lone working policy template is a useful start and a poor finish. What a lone working policy and procedure has to do in home and community care, and the controls that show it works rather than describe it.
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Governance
CQC governance documents: what you actually need
A governance document template is a useful start and a poor finish. What Regulation 17 actually asks for, and the living records that evidence it rather than describe it.
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Safety
MRI safety and CQC: the governance evidence inspectors look for
MRI looks like the safe modality, but the magnet is never off. Why this is not an IR(ME)R question, the MHRA safety framework and named roles, and the evidence CQC expects.
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Sector focus
Domiciliary care evidence: proving what happened on one visit
Most of the care happens away from the manager, in people's homes. Why a policy folder is not enough, and the connected evidence CQC expects to see across assessment, visits, medicines, safeguarding and governance.
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Evidence
How to evidence Regulation 9: person-centred care in practice
One of the easiest CQC standards to agree with and one of the easiest to under-evidence. What person-centred care really tests for, and the records that show it rather than assert it.
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