CQC and Ofsted news and insights
CQC and Ofsted compliance, explained
Advice, news and video on regulatory change and best practice for health and social care providers.
Our latest articles and videos cover CQC registration, mock inspections, enforcement and the changes coming to the CQC. Browse by advice, news or video below.
Latest articles
- Advice
Case Study: Emergency Ofsted Enforcement and Children’s Residential Home Turnaround
How HLTH Compliance mobilised an Ofsted Crisis and Turnaround Team within 12 hours, and Ofsted confirmed within four weeks that it would not proceed with a proposed cancellation of registration.
- News
CQC to Regulate Autism and ADHD Diagnostic Assessments: What Providers Need to Know
The Department of Health and Social Care has asked CQC to regulate all autism and ADHD diagnostic assessments. Here is what is changing and how providers can prepare.
- Advice
How to Improve a ‘Requires Improvement’ CQC Rating
A requires improvement CQC rating sits in a difficult middle ground: it confirms that a service is not providing unsafe or seriously inadequate care, but it also makes clear that current practice falls short of what good looks like. For many providers, this rating becomes a turning point, a clear signal that focused, sustained effort
- Advice
Post-Inspection Support: Responding to a Difficult CQC Report
Receiving a difficult CQC report can be a genuinely disheartening moment for a provider, particularly when staff and leaders feel they have been working hard to deliver good care. Seeking post CQC inspection support at this stage is not a sign of failure: it is a practical, sensible step that helps providers respond constructively, meet
- Advice
Trade Union Changes: What Providers Need to Prepare
Trade Union Duty: Use the Extra Time Wisely Employers now have until 1 January 2027 to prepare for the new requirement to tell workers about their right to join a trade union. The original October 2026 start date has been moved back, and the Government’s consultation response sets out in some detail how the duty
- Advice
How Often Should You Run a Mock Inspection?
One of the most common questions providers ask once they have completed their first mock exercise is about mock inspection frequency: how often is often enough, and how does a provider avoid either over auditing or leaving too long a gap between checks. There is no single answer that suits every service, but the right
- News
Event Healthcare Providers: New CQC Registration Requirements
CQC has published new guidance confirming that healthcare and treatment delivered at sporting, cultural and other events now falls within the scope of CQC regulation. Applications open 7 September 2026.
- Advice
Mock CQC Inspections: What Happens and Why They Matter
For many registered managers, the phrase mock CQC inspection conjures images of a stressful rehearsal, but in practice it is one of the most useful tools a provider has for understanding how their service would actually be judged on any given day. Rather than a test to pass or fail, a well run mock inspection
- Advice
HLTH Chat: Fixing NHS Waiting Times, Why Clinic Chaos Is a Design Problem Rather Than a Capacity Problem
Long waiting lists, chaotic clinics and stretched staff are usually explained the same way: there is too much demand and not enough capacity. It is a familiar conclusion, and for many services it feels like the only one available. But as NHS consultant surgeon and independent healthcare systems engineer Simon Dodds explains on a recent
- Advice
Domiciliary Care Registration: The Practical Steps
Setting up a new home care agency involves more moving parts than many new providers expect, and understanding the practical steps in CQC domiciliary care registration early on can save a great deal of time later. Unlike a care home, a domiciliary care service has no fixed location for inspectors to visit before people move
- Advice
Case Study: Emergency CQC Enforcement and Interim Management Support
Providers with a long history of positive CQC ratings can still face significant regulatory challenges when concerns emerge around leadership, governance or management oversight. Recently, HLTH Compliance was contacted by an established adult social care provider that had maintained a Good CQC rating for more than 20 years. Following its most recent inspection, the service
- Advice
Business Plan Readiness for CQC Registration
Anyone preparing to register a new care service with the Care Quality Commission will quickly discover that a strong CQC business plan sits at the heart of the application. It is not simply a formality to satisfy an application form: it is the document reviewers use to judge whether a provider understands the service they
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