CQC continues to organise judgements around five key questions: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Its assessment approach is changing during 2026, so providers should check current CQC guidance before relying on any checklist.
This article is a practical record-keeping starting point organised around those five questions. Adapt it to your service, current regulatory guidance and professional advice rather than treating it as a complete inspection standard.
Safe
What inspectors look for
- Safeguarding policy, version-controlled, with named lead and dated reviews
- Risk assessments per resident, falls, choking, skin integrity, behaviours of concern, reviewed at the cadence the care plan specifies
- Incident, accident and near-miss log with trend analysis
- Medication: electronic or paper medication records with witnessing, PRN protocols, refusal log, controlled drug register, stock checks
- Infection prevention & control, cleaning logs, outbreak escalation, PPE stock, isolation status records
- Premises & equipment, fire drills monthly, PAT testing, LOLER, water temp checks
- Staffing levels evidenced against dependency, not against budget
Operational habit
Set a review schedule that matches each record, the provider's policies and current requirements. Assign every action to an owner and make overdue items visible before they become gaps.
Policies explain the intended standard. Daily records should show how that standard is applied in practice.
Effective
What inspectors look for
- Person-centred care plans co-produced with the resident and/or family
- Mental Capacity Act assessments with best-interest decisions documented
- DoLS authorisations current; conditions met and evidenced
- Nutrition and hydration monitoring, MUST scores, weight charts, fluid balance
- Training matrix, mandatory courses current, plus role-specific (dementia, end-of-life, autism)
- Supervision, appraisal and competency assessment records
- Wound care, pressure area and tissue viability monitoring with photographic evidence
Operational habit
Review care plans at the intervals required by the provider and whenever needs or circumstances change, including after admission, hospital return or a significant change in condition.
Caring
What inspectors look for
- Daily notes that show person-centred care, not task completion
- Resident voice, meeting minutes, complaints, compliments, survey results
- End-of-life wishes recorded and respected, RESPECT/ReSPECT forms current
- Cultural, spiritual and dietary preferences captured and acted on
- Activities programme that responds to individuals, not the average
Operational habit
Read three random daily notes per resident per week and ask: does this sound like a person, or like a checklist? If it sounds like a checklist, the documentation pattern needs work, not the carer.
Responsive
What inspectors look for
- Care plans adjusted to need, including communication, sensory and cognitive needs
- Complaints procedure visible, accessible, and actioned within published timescales
- Admission, transfer and discharge processes with clinical handover evidence
- Equality, diversity and inclusion in practice, not just policy
- Family communication log
Well-led
What inspectors look for
- Registered manager visible, named, with current DBS and qualifications
- Governance framework, quality assurance audits, action logs, board / owner oversight
- Notifications to CQC made within statutory timescales
- Whistleblowing and Freedom to Speak Up route in practice
- Learning culture, lessons logged after incidents, complaints and audits, with closed-loop actions
- Workforce wellbeing measured and acted on
Operational habit
A regular governance review can bring together incidents, complaints, audits, training, staffing and safeguarding information. Record who reviewed it, what they found and which actions were assigned.
The thirty-minute Sunday habit
A short weekly review can help managers close open actions before they accumulate. Check overdue audits, incidents awaiting review, training due to expire and unresolved communication, then record the owner and deadline for each follow-up.