Responsive · KLOE 2

Listening and responding to feedback

Are people supported to give feedback and raise concerns, and are they confident that action will be taken as a result?

CQC wording, primary care and community services draft V6.0, pages 38 to 39.

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 38 to 39. 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.

There are consistently high levels of constructive engagement with people who use services, including those in all equality groups. Services are developed with their full participation as equal partners.
Rigorous and constructive challenge from people who use services, the public and stakeholders is actively encouraged and seen as a vital way of holding services to account.
People who use the service and those close to them are involved in regular reviews of how the service manages and responds to complaints.
Innovative approaches are used to proactively gather feedback from people who use services and the public, including people in different equality groups or people who may find it hard to give feedback for other reasons. There is a demonstrated commitment to acting on feedback.
The service proactively identifies themes in feedback (such as a disproportionate number of complaints from people with protected equality characteristics), acts on these and uses learning to drive further improvement.
Investigations are comprehensive and the service uses innovative ways of looking into concerns and other feedback, including the use of external professionals to make sure there is an independent and objective approach.

People, their advocates and communities know how to give feedback about their experiences of care. They can do so in a range of accessible ways. Where people find it difficult to give feedback, for example due to communication difficulties, there are other methods in place to support them.
People and those close to them feel confident that if they complain, they will be taken seriously and treated compassionately, with no fear of detriment.
Staff investigate complaints and concerns openly and thoroughly, and within a suitable timeframe.
People are kept informed about how their feedback was acted on. Where improvements are required as a result, people can be involved in shaping the solutions and measuring the impact.
Learning from complaints, concerns and other sources of feedback is seen as an opportunity for service improvement. Staff can demonstrate where improvements have been made because of learning from feedback, and can give examples of how they have incorporated learning into their daily practice.
Staff analyse feedback for themes (such as a disproportionate number of complaints from people with protected equality characteristics) and make changes, where needed.

People do not find it easy to raise concerns or complaints, or are worried about doing so. Complaints and concerns cannot be made in completely accessible ways.
When people raise complaints or concerns, the service may not always take their views fully on board, investigate them thoroughly and in a timely way, or change practice to improve.
The complaints system may be managed inconsistently and there is little evidence of the learning being applied in practice within the service.
There is insufficient engagement with people who use services, or insufficient attention to appropriately engaging those with protected equality characteristics. Feedback is not always reported or acted on in a timely way.
People and those close to them are not always given timely and accessible information about advocacy and further support.

People feel unable to express their views about the care and support they receive from the service. The complaints and concerns system is unclear and not accessible.
Complaints are not dealt with in an open, transparent, timely and objective way. The service’s response to complaints suggests a defensive attitude.
People may suffer discrimination, detriment and harassment if they complain.
There is minimal or no engagement with people who use services, the public or external partners. The service does not respond to what they have to say.
Staff are unaware or are dismissive of what people who use the service think of their care and treatment.
People’s feedback is inappropriately managed and acted on. The service is unable to provide examples of improvements made because of feedback and complaints.
People and those close to them are not given suitable information or access to advocacy and support.

Book a mock inspection run against the draft KLOEs, or call 020 8090 5346 to speak to one of our experts.