Caring · KLOE 2
Person-centred care
Do people receive personalised care, which ensures they are at the centre of their care, support and treatment choices?
CQC wording, draft v9, pages 35 to 37.
Draft, not the current assessment framework
CQC's adult social care draft v9, dated 19 March 2026. The current quality statements remain in use.
CQC draft scope
What this proposed KLOE covers
Scope of this key line of enquiry and topic areas include:
- Appropriate and personalised care, support and treatment
- Empowerment and decision making
- Meeting personal, cultural, social, spiritual and religious needs
How would this apply to your service?
The draft applies one framework across adult social care, but useful evidence depends on your service and people.
Source: Adult social care assessment framework, draft v9, 19 March 2026, pages 35 to 37.
HLTH analysis
What this could mean in practice
Care should be shaped around each person's identity, preferences, rights and choices instead of the routines or priorities of the service.
People and those important to them should influence planning, decisions and reviews as needs and wishes change. Personal, cultural, social, spiritual, religious and communication needs should inform care, reasonable adjustments and the use of technology.
Evidence and conversations to explore
- Personalisation in care planning and delivery
- People's influence over decisions and reviews
- Cultural, spiritual and communication needs
Questions worth asking
- What shows that care reflects the person instead of a standard routine?
- How are changing wishes and needs recognised and acted on?
- How do reasonable adjustments or technology support each person's choices?
HLTH's interpretation of CQC's 19 March 2026 draft. This is not current CQC guidance, an official interpretation, a checklist or a rating prediction. Reviewed 17 September 2026.
CQC draft rating characteristics
How the draft describes each rating
These are CQC's draft characteristics. CQC says rating characteristics guide judgements, they are not a mechanical checklist.
Outstanding
- People are helped and supported to genuinely express their wishes and preferences. People at this service can authentically be themselves and live the life they choose.
- The service embodies a ‘how to make this happen for people’ approach.
- Care goes beyond meeting clinical or personal care needs, to supporting and empowering people to achieve what is important to them.
- The service recognises the limitations of the settings where care is delivered, particularly where people’s needs may conflict with other people’s wishes and staff are particularly skilled when exploring and resolving any conflicts and tensions involved.
- The service understands that a person’s needs, preferences and wishes can change, and it makes sure it continuously adapts its approach with the person for meaningful outcomes.
- There are creative ways of reflecting people’s personal histories and cultural backgrounds, and the service strives to match staff with people’s interests and personalities.
Good
- People are at the centre of how their care, support and treatment is delivered. Care is tailored to the individual and is not task-focused.
- People receive the most appropriate and personalised care, support and treatment as the service makes reasonable adjustments where necessary.
- Staff treat people as individuals, considering any relevant protected equality characteristics and ensuring their personal, cultural, social, spiritual and religious needs are understood and met.
- People and those close to them (including representatives, advocates and where appropriate dependents) are regularly involved in planning, making and updating shared decisions about their care, support and treatment, so it is centred around them and their needs.
- There is a balanced and proportionate approach to supporting people and respecting the choices they make about their care and support.
- People are supported to understand their rights by using different ways to communicate. Their understanding is reviewed throughout their care and support.
- Staff work with people when their needs change to consider the care, support and treatment options that best meet their changing needs.
- The service makes sure that the technology it uses to deliver care, support and treatment appropriately meets the individual needs of each person using the service.
Requires improvement
- People’s care is often task-focused and does not centre around them and their whole life needs or personal choices.
- The service does not consistently make the necessary reasonable adjustments to make sure people’s care, support and treatment is as appropriate and personalised as possible.
- People cannot fully engage with their care, support and treatment or are not empowered to make decisions around this. People’s individual needs, including personal, cultural, social, spiritual and religious needs, and needs related to other protected equality characteristics, are not well understood, considered and met.
- The service does not effectively support people to understand their rights regarding their care, support and treatment.
- The way care is delivered can be unreasonably balanced in favour of the needs and priorities of the service and staff rather than people’s individual needs, preferences and choices.
- Technology is not consistently used in a person-centred way. There are examples where it is used to meet the needs of the service, rather than because it is appropriate to meet the needs of the individual person.
Inadequate
- People’s care is based on the needs and priorities of the service and staff and is task-focused. It fails to adequately consider people’s individual needs, preferences and choices.
- The service fails to make reasonable adjustments for people including meeting needs around communication and providing information in an accessible format.
- The service fails to meet people’s personal, cultural, social, spiritual and religious needs. There is a poor understanding, a lack of consideration or a disregard for people’s protected equality characteristics.
- Care records are standardised with no evidence of individualised or person-centred care.
- People’s care needs are not regularly reviewed.
- People, and those important to them, are not involved in decisions about their care, support and treatment. People’s individual needs and circumstances are not taken into account.
- Technology used by the service is focused on meeting the needs of the service and has a negative impact on meeting the individual needs of people using the service.
Want to know how your service would fare?
Book a mock inspection run against the draft KLOEs, or call 020 8090 5346 to speak to one of our experts.