Responsive · KLOE 1

Care provision, integration, and continuity

Is care co-ordinated and delivered in a flexible, joined-up way that reflects diverse needs and promotes choice and continuity?

CQC wording, primary care and community services draft V6.0, pages 36 to 37.

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 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.

The service actively champions equity, inclusion and personalised choice. Teams work with curiosity and cultural humility to ensure people experience seamless, responsive and consistent support that honours their identity, preferences and circumstances. Barriers that prevent access to care, continuity of care or participation in care decisions are anticipated and removed wherever possible.
Care and treatment are exceptionally well co-ordinated and wholly centred on each person’s assessed needs, strengths, culture, history and aspirations. Staff understand the whole person, including the impact of trauma, discrimination and social context, and adapt care to achieve the best possible outcomes, recovery and wellbeing.
The service works in partnership with communities to proactively tackle health inequalities.

The service understands the characteristics and needs of the population it serves and uses this insight to design and deliver flexible services that offer choice and continuity of care.
People’s care and treatment is co-ordinated with other services and delivered in a way that meets their diverse health and social care needs.
Delivering and co-ordinating services is multidisciplinary where appropriate, and considers the needs and preferences of different people and communities, including those with protected equality characteristics and those at most risk of a poorer experience of care.

The service does not consistently reflect the needs of the population it serves. The care and treatment people receive may offer only limited flexibility, choice or continuity of care.
People’s care and treatment is not always co-ordinated, responsive or delivered in a way that meets their assessed needs.
The needs and preferences of different people and communities, including those most at risk of a poorer experience of care, are not consistently considered in the delivery or co-ordination of services. People in these groups may describe poor experiences of care and treatment.

The service does not reflect the needs of the population it serves. People receive little or no flexibility, choice or continuity in their care and treatment.
People’s care and treatment is not co-ordinated, responsive or delivered in a way that meets their assessed needs.
The needs and preferences of different people and communities, including those most at risk of poor care, are not considered when delivering or co-ordinating services. This leads to poor experiences of care and treatment.

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