2d • General discussion
I promised you this breakdown — and here it is.
At the Outstanding Society webinar last week, one theme came through louder than everything else for me. CQC is not just changing its framework. It is resetting its entire approach to how it assesses, rates and supports services to improve. And at the heart of that reset is something that matters enormously to every service currently rated Requires Improvement — and to every service that wants to stay at Good or reach Outstanding.
Let me break it down for you.
🔄 What is actually changing?
The Single Assessment Framework — introduced in 2024 — is being replaced. Following significant provider feedback, independent reviews and a national consultation that attracted thousands of responses, CQC has confirmed it is moving to sector-specific assessment frameworks. For adult social care, that means:
— The five key questions stay — Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-Led are not going anywhere
— KLOEs are back — the 34 Quality Statements are being replaced with 24 Key Lines of Enquiry, framed as structured questions that describe exactly what inspectors will look for
— Rating characteristics return — clear, plain-English descriptions of what Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement and Inadequate actually look like in your setting. No more guessing.
— Scoring is gone — rating decisions will be made directly at key question level, based on what inspectors see, hear and read
— Final frameworks will be published in summer 2026 — with implementation starting toward the end of 2026
🌟 Why this matters for services rated Requires Improvement
Here is what I want you to hear if your service is currently rated Requires Improvement.
This framework reset is your opportunity.
The return of clear rating characteristics means you will know precisely and specifically what Good looks like in your setting. Not a vague aspiration. A clear, evidenced picture of what you need to achieve and demonstrate.
In my 25 years of supporting care services, the number one reason I see Requires Improvement services struggle to move upward is not that they are not trying. It is that they do not know exactly what the evidence bar is. They are working hard but not always in the right direction.
The new KLOEs and rating characteristics change that. They give you a map.
But here is the thing about maps — they only work if you actually use them.
📌 What you should be doing right now
CQC has confirmed it is targeting 9,000 assessments by the end of September 2026. That is a significant acceleration in inspection volume. If your rating is more than two years old, the probability of an assessment in the next 12 months is higher than it has been since before the pandemic.
So while the new framework is still being finalised, the work you need to do right now is the same as it has always been:
✅ Know your governance inside out: risk register, audits, supervisions, RI visits
✅ Know your evidence; can you demonstrate the difference your care makes to people's lives?
✅ Know your gaps; and have a plan to close them before CQC arrives
✅ Start mapping your current practice against the 24 draft KLOEs; they are publicly available on the CQC website right now
The services that will thrive under the new framework are not the ones who wait until it is published. They are the ones who start now.
💙 A personal note
I have supported services from Requires Improvement to Good. I have supported services from Good to Outstanding. And the one thing every single one of those journeys had in common was this — clarity about what needed to change, a plan to change it and the consistent daily commitment to doing the work.
That is what I am here for. And that is what the new framework — when it lands — will make clearer than ever before.
Watch this space. There is more to come on this.
🔗 Find the draft adult social care framework at cqc.org.uk
#CQCComplianceNetworkUK #CQC2026 #NewFramework #KLOEs #RatingCharacteristics #RequiresImprovement #ReturnToGood #CareLeadership #InspectionReady #RegisteredManagers #UKCare #QualityImprovement #CQCCompliance
0
0 comments
I promised you this breakdown — and here it is.
powered by
skool.com/cqc-compliance-network-uk-2148
Registered Nurse supporting care providers in achieving Good and Outstanding CQC ratings through compliance, mock inspections and quality care audits.
Suggested communities
Powered by