Better regulation, better care: Consultation on improving how we assess and rate providers (CQC, 16 October 2025)

Summary

This consultation is about the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) proposals to evolve and improve their approach to assessing health and care providers. In it they set out the improvements they are currently making and the steps they are proposing to take to ensure that people receive safe, effective, compassionate, and high-quality care.

Content

This Care Quality Commission (CQC) consultation has two areas of focus:

• how CQC are proposing to develop their frameworks and guidance for assessing providers
• how CQC propose to change their methods for inspecting, assessing and awarding ratings to health and care services.

It is focusing on four areas that CQC have identified as causing the most issues:

1. Making sure they can publish reports of assessments that they have completed, which providers have been waiting too long for.
2. Increasing the number of assessments completed each month, so they can provide up-to-date ratings and ensure people understand the quality of care in services in their area.
3. Clearing their registration backlog to enable new services to start delivering care and increasing capacity in the system.
4. Making sure they’ve acted promptly on information of concern and statutory notifications that providers tell us about.