Effective · KLOE 3

Outcomes

Does the service monitor outcomes and compare performance to improve the effectiveness of care for all?

CQC wording, primary care and community services draft V6.0, pages 23 to 25.

Draft, not the current assessment framework

CQC's primary care and community services draft V6.0, 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 primary care and community services, but useful evidence depends on your service and people.

Source: CQC, Primary care and community services assessment framework, draft V6.0, 19 March 2026, pages 23 to 25. 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.

Effective use of benchmarking, learning and quality improvement initiatives means people consistently experience positive and improving outcomes. These are better than expected compared with other services and exceed agreed expectations in legislation, standards and evidence-based guidance. Outcomes are recorded using approved outcome measures, where appropriate, and consider quality of life and equity.
There are proactive and inclusive systems that continually monitor, understand, and enhance people’s outcomes. All staff are actively engaged in activities to monitor and improve quality and outcomes (including, where appropriate, monitoring outcomes for people once they have transferred to other services).
Staff work proactively to enable equitably good outcomes for all. They recognise barriers that prevent this by acting on information, proactively listening and responding to people’s experiences of discrimination or inequality, and then allocating resources and embedding continuous learning and innovation to reduce inequalities in outcomes.
Opportunities to participate in benchmarking and peer review are proactively pursued.
High performance is recognised by credible external bodies.
The service uses outcomes measures to review performance and drive improvements, including by comparing outcomes across groups with different characteristics, such as protected characteristics.

People have positive, consistent outcomes that meet agreed expectations as set out in legislation, standards and evidence-based clinical guidance.
There are effective approaches to routinely collect and monitor information about people’s care and treatment and their outcomes. Clinical outcome data is proactively reviewed to identify disparities and unwarranted variation. This information is used to improve care.
People consistently experience positive outcomes that meet agreed expectations as set out in legislation, standards and evidence-based clinical guidance.
Staff work proactively to achieve equitable outcomes. They do this by recognising barriers that prevent equity, collecting and acting on information and allocating resources to reduce barriers and improve people’s outcomes.
Where relevant, the service participates in local and national clinical audits and other monitoring activities such as reviews of services, benchmarking and peer review.
Accurate and up-to-date information about effectiveness is shared internally and externally, and all staff understand it. The information is used to improve the quality of people’s care, treatment and outcomes, and this improvement is checked and monitored.
Staff use benchmarking with similar services to identify where improvements are needed, and to address these.

There is a lack of consistency in the effectiveness of the care, treatment and support that people receive.
People’s outcomes from their care and treatment are below expectations compared with similar services. Information on outcomes is not always monitored regularly or thoroughly. The results of monitoring are not always used effectively to improve quality. Participation in external audits and benchmarking is limited.
Staff are not consistently aware of discrimination and inequality that could lead to differential outcomes for people using their services.
Meeting expectations as set out in legislation, standards and evidence-based clinical guidance is variable.

People’s care is ineffective or there is insufficient assurance in place to demonstrate otherwise.
There is very limited or no monitoring of the outcomes of care and treatment. People’s outcomes are very variable or significantly worse than expected when compared with other similar services. Necessary action is not taken to improve people’s outcomes.
Staff are not aware of discrimination and inequality that could lead to unequal outcomes for people using their services, and this is not a focus in planning and delivering the service.
Legislation, standards and evidence-based clinical guidance is not implemented or followed.

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