Single 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.
Single Assessment Framework in practice
The point of a single framework is consistency: the same evidence categories and the same quality statements apply across sectors, with the detail of what good looks like varying by service type.
Assessment is continuous rather than tied to a single visit. CQC gathers evidence from several directions, including people who use the service, staff and leaders, observation of care, and records, and it can update a rating without a full inspection of everything.
For providers this changes the preparation question. It is less about being ready for an inspection day and more about whether the evidence would hold up whenever it is looked at.
Back to the glossaryRelated definitions
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 definitionRegistering with CQC or Ofsted?
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