CQC and Ofsted glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms UK care providers meet during registration and inspection. Each entry gives the definition in one sentence, then the detail that matters in practice.
Registering with CQC
The service types and documents at the centre of a CQC application.
Statement of Purpose
A Statement of Purpose is the document a CQC-registered provider must keep that sets out its aims and objectives, the regulated activities it provides, the service user groups it serves, and the addresses it operates from.
Read definitionRegulated activity
A regulated activity is an activity listed in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 that may not lawfully be carried on in England without registering with CQC.
Read definitionPersonal care
Personal care is the regulated activity of providing physical assistance with, or prompting and supervising, things like washing, dressing, eating and using the toilet, where the person cannot do them unaided.
Read definitionDomiciliary care
Domiciliary care is care delivered to people in their own homes by a registered provider, and where it includes personal care it requires CQC registration under the regulated activity of personal care.
Read definitionSupported living
Supported living is an arrangement where people have their own tenancy or ownership of their home and receive care separately, and it requires CQC registration where the care provided includes personal care.
Read definitionPeople and roles
The named people CQC assesses, and the checks they go through.
Nominated Individual
A Nominated Individual is the person a CQC-registered organisation names as responsible for supervising how its regulated activities are carried on, and they must be an employed director, manager or company secretary of the provider.
Read definitionRegistered Manager
A Registered Manager is the person registered with CQC to manage a regulated activity at a specific location, and most services cannot legally operate without one in post.
Read definitionFit and Proper Person Test
The fit and proper person requirement obliges providers to satisfy themselves that directors and equivalent senior people are of good character, physically and mentally fit for the role, appropriately qualified and experienced, and have not been responsible for serious misconduct or mismanagement.
Read definitionEnhanced DBS check
An enhanced DBS check is the highest standard level of criminal record check, and for CQC registration it must normally be an enhanced check with the appropriate barred list check, countersigned by CQC where the applicant is not a registered healthcare professional.
Read definitionInspection and quality
How CQC assesses services once they are registered.
Regulation 17 (Good governance)
Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires providers to have systems that assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service, and to keep accurate, complete records.
Read definitionProvider Information Return (PIR)
A Provider Information Return is a structured set of questions CQC sends to a registered provider asking for evidence about the quality of its service, and the answers feed directly into how the service is assessed.
Read definitionQuality Statements
Quality statements are the commitments CQC expects providers to meet, written from the perspective of the person using the service, and grouped under the five key questions of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
Read definitionSingle Assessment Framework
The Single Assessment Framework is the structure CQC uses to assess every type of service, built on the same five key questions and quality statements regardless of whether the provider is a care home, a domiciliary agency or a clinic.
Read definitionReturning to Good
Returning to Good is a CQC programme that re-assesses adult social care services already rated Good in all five key questions, aimed particularly at ratings that are several years old, using a streamlined set of 18 quality statements.
Read definitionSafeguarding and the law
The legal duties that shape everyday practice in regulated care.
Duty of Candour
The duty of candour requires providers to be open and transparent when something goes wrong, and to tell the person affected as soon as reasonably practicable, apologise, explain what is known, and follow up in writing.
Read definitionStatutory notification
A statutory notification is a formal report a registered provider is legally required to send CQC when certain events happen, such as a death, serious injury, allegation of abuse, or an event that stops the service running safely.
Read definitionRight Support, Right Care, Right Culture
Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture is CQC guidance setting out what good looks like for services supporting autistic people and people with a learning disability, covering the model of support, the care delivered, and the culture of the organisation.
Read definitionMental Capacity Act 2005
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is the law governing decision-making for people aged 16 and over in England and Wales who may lack capacity to make a particular decision at a particular time.
Read definitionDeprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)
The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are the legal process for authorising arrangements that deprive a person of their liberty in a care home or hospital where they lack capacity to consent to them.
Read definitionSafeguarding adults
Safeguarding adults means protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect, and under the Care Act 2014 it is a duty shared between providers, local authorities and the police.
Read definitionOfsted and children’s services
Registration and inspection terms for children’s homes and other children’s services in England.
SC1 and SC2 applications
SC1 and SC2 are the Ofsted application forms for registering a children’s home or supported accommodation service: SC1 registers the provider and the service, and SC2 is completed by each person connected to it, including the manager, the responsible individual (nominated individual in supported accommodation) and directors involved in running it.
Read definitionResponsible Individual (Ofsted)
A Responsible Individual is the person an organisation nominates to Ofsted as accountable for supervising the management of a children’s home, and they are assessed by Ofsted for their suitability for that role.
Read definitionChildren’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015
The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 are the regulations governing how children’s homes in England must be run, and they contain the quality standards Ofsted inspects against.
Read definitionQuality Standards (Ofsted)
The quality standards are the outcome-focused standards in the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 that a children’s home must meet, covering areas such as protection, education, health, positive relationships and leadership.
Read definitionSCCIF
The SCCIF, or Social Care Common Inspection Framework, is the framework Ofsted uses to inspect children’s social care providers, setting out how inspections are conducted and what inspectors evaluate.
Read definitionRegulation 44 visit
A Regulation 44 visit is a monthly independent visit to a children’s home, required by the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, in which an independent person assesses whether children are effectively safeguarded and the home is well run.
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