Regulation

Adult social care providers that deliver residential or personal care must be registered with and regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The Care Provider Alliance is working with care providers and the CQC to inform and support proportionate, effective regulation.

Single Assessment Framework§

CQC’s single assessment framework is based on a set of quality statements. They are arranged under topic areas and describe what good care looks like.

The framework applies to providers, local authorities and integrated care systems. CQC’s original 5 key questions and their ratings (outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate) are still central to their approach.

CPA engagement with CQC’s Single Assessment Framework§

We are supporting Professor Sir Mike Richards on his review of the single assessment framework and its implementation. The review will explore aspects such as how the new approach works in practice, its effectiveness, and how providers are experiencing the process. 

It will give a view on changes providers would like to see.

Updated 18 November 2024§

We are hosting a series of provider workshops under Stage 2 of the CPA CQC Single Assessment Framework (SAF) review.

The first stage of this work has concluded, following a survey which gathered over 1200 qualifying responses and focused on social care providers' perspectives and experiences of the SAF.

These upcoming provider workshops will focus on what adult social care providers want the future of regulation to look like and will directly inform the final project report to the CQC board. 

Topics for discussion include the assessment process, the assessment experience, and 'what providers want' which includes discussion of more fundamental change to regulation, beyond retaining and adapting the SAF. 

Please note: These forms are to express your interest in attending - spaces are limited, and we aim to ensure a representative spread of participants at every workshop. We will be in touch soon to confirm if you have been allocated a place.

1. Please only complete the forms if you are in the adult social care provider sector. 
2. Please only sign up for dates you are able to attend. 
3. Please choose one form to complete. If you provide multiple services, please choose the workshop representing the majority of your services, or the one you feel most strongly about. 

Supported living: Monday 25th November, 15:00-16:30. Register interest here.

Homecare/extra care: Tuesday 26th November, 11:30-13:00. Register interest here. 

Residential care - Wednesday 27th November, 12:15-13:45. Register interest here.

Shared Lives - Wednesday 27th November, 14:00-15:30. Register interest here.

Providers who have been assessed under the SAF - Thursday 28th November, 11:30-13:00. Register interest here.

Updated 24 October 2024§

Thank you to all the providers who have so far engaged in the work on the review of the SAF. The first stage of this work is drawing to a conclusion and there are a number of questions that providers have raised that might be helpful to address. 

The CPA has actively worked with the CQC and provided challenge to the CQC with a primary focus on getting regulatory assessment right for people receiving care and support. The work that we have done to date as part of this review, and our constant engagement with members reinforce our understanding of the very challenging experience for care providers on the ground, and the vital importance of moving forward to ensure that future approaches to assessment serves people drawing on care and support, providers and commissioners more effectively.

Stage 1 of CPA work§

The first stage of this work has focussed on gathering the operational perspective of providers of the SAF. The main vehicle for collecting views was through a survey, developed at speed with the support of the steering group and promoted through multiple communications across the sector, including thousands of leaflets distributed at care shows and direct communication from CPA members and the CQC. 

This survey garnered over 1500 services engaging in the survey and over 1200 qualifying responses. The analysis of these responses has provided rich and valuable data, both qualitative and quantitative which will be fed back to the CQC board building depth and detail of social care experience into any existing review work. 

In addition, they have been vital in shaping the second stage of the work. 

Stage 2 of CPA work – what next?§

The CQC full response to the publication of the reports by Dr Penny Dash and Professor Sir Mike Richards on the 15th October, outlined both the first and second stage of this work, and made clear that it will be developed and reported on in partnership with Professor Sir Mike Richards. 

The survey results indicate that the focus for the second stage of work should explore and provide recommendations on future of CQC regulatory assessment, and this will include:

• An understanding of what providers want from assessment, including learning from regulation elsewhere within the UK
• The changes required within the assessment framework to establish consistency in assessment in the different sectors, with our focus on the social care sector.
• Clearer definitions of “what good regulatory assessment looks like” for each area of the assessment framework
• Clearer guidance on what the assessment reporting process and content, including initial feedback, timing of reports, relationship with providers, press release and the reports

Members of CPA remain committed to this work and would like to encourage as many providers as possible to have their voices heard at this critical juncture in the future of regulatory assessment. 

Notes for clarification§

As the Chair of CPA, Vic Rayner was approached by the CQC in September, to carry out a rapid piece of work to ensure that there was specific care provider perspective as part of their commissioned work on the Single Assessment Framework. Our early analysis of the review work already underway was that it would not effectively capture care provider perspectives, and therefore it was agreed that CPA would carry out this work. Time frames attached to the work, were agreed at the outset and scheduled to be carried out in two phases running from September to early December. 

The CPA is not an incorporated structure, so for all pieces of work carried out by the association, a lead organisation, in this case NCF, holds the contract for the work on behalf of all members. The work is ongoing, and members of CPA participating will receive funding for the project delivery they are involved in, as well as time communicating and engaging with their members. This is the long-established approach to a wide range of work commissioned to from CPA. 

ARC England have withdrawn from the steering group and the remainder of this work and are not endorsing this statement.