Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, established under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. It registers and inspects NHS trusts, GP practices, private hospitals, care homes, home care agencies, and dental practices, rating them Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate. CQC can issue warning notices, impose conditions, suspend or cancel registration, and take prosecution action. Families choosing a care home should check its latest CQC inspection report and rating at cqc.org.uk. Concerns about a regulated service can be reported to the CQC directly; the CQC does not resolve individual complaints but uses concerns to inform inspection priorities. For individual complaint resolution about NHS care, contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO); for adult social care, contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).

What it means in practice. The CQC assesses services against five key questions: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led. Each question gets its own rating alongside the overall one, and that breakdown is far more useful than the headline word. A home rated Good overall but Requires Improvement on safety is telling you something specific. Reports also name the regulated activities a provider is registered for and any conditions imposed on its registration, which is worth checking if a home says it can meet nursing or dementia needs.

A worked example. A family is choosing between two homes. Both show Good overall, but reading the full reports shows one was rated Requires Improvement for safe care at its most recent inspection, with concerns about medicines management, while the other has been Good across all five domains for two consecutive inspections. The family also checks the date of the last inspection — an old report tells you little about a home under new ownership — and asks the manager directly what changed after the last findings.

Common pitfalls. The biggest misconception is that the CQC will resolve your individual complaint. It will not: it uses concerns as intelligence to shape inspections, but redress comes from the provider's complaints procedure and then the relevant ombudsman. Ratings can also lag reality by a long time, so treat them as a starting point rather than a verdict. And where a person is at risk of abuse or neglect right now, the route is the council's adult safeguarding team, not the regulator.

How it relates to other terms. The CQC regulates providers; the council assesses individuals through a care needs assessment and charges through a financial assessment. Concerns about abuse or neglect go through safeguarding adults under the Care Act 2014. Unresolved complaints about council-arranged care go to the LGSCO, and about NHS care to the PHSO.

What to do next. Read the full inspection report, not just the rating, and use our guide to choosing a care home alongside questions to ask a care provider. If something has already gone wrong, follow care home complaints to use the provider's procedure before going to the ombudsman.