Caring · KLOE 2

Person-centred care

Is care and treatment delivered in a person-centred way?

CQC wording, secondary and specialist hospital care draft v0.6, pages 36 to 37.

Draft, not the current assessment framework

CQC's secondary and specialist hospital care draft v0.6, published 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:

The draft applies one framework across secondary and specialist hospital care, but useful evidence depends on your service and people.

Source: CQC, Hospitals (secondary and specialist care) assessment framework, draft v0.6, 19 March 2026, pages 36 to 37. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

CQC draft rating characteristics

These are CQC's draft characteristics. CQC says rating characteristics guide judgements, they are not a mechanical checklist.

People’s individual needs and preferences are at the heart of the service, which delivers a fully-tailored, holistic care experience.
Staff recognise and respect the totality of people’s needs. They always take people’s personal, cultural, social and religious needs into account, and find innovative ways to meet them.
There is a proactive approach to understanding the needs and preferences of different groups of people and to delivering care in a way that meets these needs, which is accessible and promotes equality. This includes people with protected equality characteristics, people who may be approaching the end of their life, and people who are in vulnerable circumstances or who have complex needs.

People can receive the most appropriate and personalised care and treatment as the service makes reasonable adjustments where necessary.
Staff treat people as individuals, considering any relevant protected equality characteristics. They ensure they understand and meet people's personal, cultural, social and religious needs.
People's communication needs are met to enable them to engage in decisions about their care and treatment, to optimise both their experience and outcomes.
There is a balanced and proportionate approach to supporting people and respecting the choices they make about their care and treatment.
People are supported to understand their rights and their understanding is reviewed throughout their care and treatment.
People, their families, carers and advocates, are regularly involved in planning, and are fully supported and empowered to make decisions about care and treatment, where appropriate.
The service makes sure that the technology used to deliver care, treatment and support meets the individual needs of the person using the service.

Services are not delivered in a way that focuses on people’s holistic needs.
People’s emotional, social, cultural or religious needs are not always viewed as important or reflected in their care, treatment and support.
People feel excluded from care planning, with little involvement in treatment and decisions about medicines.
Staff may focus on the task rather than treating people as an individual person.
There is some flexibility to take account of individual needs as they arise, but the service does not meet the needs of all the people who use it.
There are shortfalls in how the needs and preferences of different people are taken into account, for example on the grounds of protected equality characteristics and for people who may be approaching the end of their life, who are in vulnerable circumstances or who have complex needs.
Staff do not always adhere to the Mental Health Act Code of Practice. Deviation from Code of Practice guidance is not always clearly recorded.

People feel dismissed, belittled or ignored and not listened to. This contributes to deterioration, relapse, and re-admission where concerns are missed.
Services are planned and delivered without consideration of people’s needs and preferences.
People’s basic needs are not met.
People’s emotional, social, cultural or religious preferences and choices are not considered in their care, treatment and support.
Some people are unable to use the service because it does not meet their needs or preferences.
Staff fail to comply with the Mental Health Act Code of Practice or other legislation.

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