| Customer Login
Welcome to the CQC content hub
The Care Quality Commission regulate all care services across the UK and ask 5 key questions during their inspection to ensure that they focus on the things that matter to people. These key questions apply to all types of businesses that provide care services including home care, domiciliary care, live-in care, extra care, assisted living care and residential care.
What are the CQC’s 5 key questions?
- Are they safe? Safe: you are protected from abuse and avoidable harm.
- Are they effective? Effective: your care, treatment and support achieve good outcomes, help you to maintain quality of life and are based on the best available evidence.
- Are they caring? Caring: staff involve and treat you with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Are they responsive to people’s needs? Responsive: services are organised so that they meet your needs.
- Are they well-led? Well-led: the leadership, management and governance of the organisation make sure it’s providing high-quality care that’s based on your individual needs, that it encourages learning and innovation, and that it promotes an open and fair culture.
Download our free guide to outstanding home care
This guide provides a comprehensive overview of how our care management software will support your home care organisation in meeting the CQC’s five key questions, along with an in-depth analysis of the newly announced quality statements.
How can technology assist home care providers to meet the 5 key questions?
- The Care Quality Commission, inspections and CQC ratings
What is the CQC? The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. Its job is to make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and to encourage care services to improve…. Read more » - eMAR: Frequently asked questions
What is eMAR? eMAR (or Electronic Medication Administration Record) is the digital alternative to a paper MAR chart. MAR charts (Medication Administration Records) or MAR sheets are used throughout the health and social care industry, including within home care, to record details of any medication that… Read more » - How can technology help answer the CQC’s key lines of enquiry (KLOES)?
UPDATE: The big news for 2022 is the Care Quality Commission’s announcement of its new approach to regulation. It ushers in major changes to the way the CQC works in order to deliver its ambitious new strategy (revealed in May 2021). While the CQC’s key questions… Read more » - Reducing medication errors in home care
Recently, the CQC released a report investigating the dangerous errors which can arise during medication administration. The report, ‘Medicines in health and social care’ was conducted using findings from a variety of service types, including both the NHS and independent care providers. It highlighted a number… Read more » - A guide to the CQC’s quality statements
The big news for 2022 is the Care Quality Commission’s quality statement announcement in July 2022 of its new approach to regulation. It ushers in major changes to the way the CQC works in order to deliver its ambitious new strategy (revealed May 2021). One of… Read more » - Thought leadership: All change at the CQC
By David Lynes, CEO & Founder of Unique IQ We’ve recently updated our popular guide to the CQC and technology – ‘Outstanding home care’. And since our last edition it’s all change in care tech, and indeed at the CQC. After years of only vague interest, the… Read more » - New for 2022: An updated guide to Outstanding home care
As the CQC prepares to launch its new guidelines to deliver on its new strategy, we thought it was the perfect time to update our popular guide ‘Outstanding home care’ with new information about how things will soon change. - A comprehensive guide to CQC inspections
What is a CQC inspection? If you provide health care or adult social care services that are regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, you must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). CQC inspections are an important part of regulating health… Read more » - The ‘care data’ goldmine: revolutionising the care sector
According to a 2019 study by Care Improvement Associates, one of the hallmarks of ‘Outstanding’ home care organisations was continuous improvement. CQC reports of Outstanding-rated domiciliary care providers pointed to action plans, audits, systems and processes which clearly demonstrate a focus on continually improving care delivery…. Read more » - Electronic care planning and the benefits to home-based care
At Unique IQ we firmly believe in the positive role that technology can play in the delivery of care. Offering solutions to drive efficiency, ease reliance on manual processes and reduce costs – ultimately freeing up more time for agencies to focus on caring. But it’s… Read more » - Home care innovations and the drivers behind good quality home care
The Care Quality Commission has published its latest report on the state of adult health and social care in England. The data compiled within this document concentrates on the quality and quantity of care available within England for both mental and physical health. The report tackles… Read more »
How can home care providers use technology to improve care?
The CQC has made ‘encouraging innovation’ one of its strategic priorities, recognising that digitally-enabled care can offer significant benefits to people who use services and those who run and deliver them. We explore what providers can be doing now to improve quality and look ahead to what the future holds for the sector.
- What do good digital care records look like?
- The importance of culturally appropriate care in home care
- Technology in home care – useful resources
- Electronic care plans – the future of home care
- Delivering person-centred home care to LGBTQ+ clients
- Unique IQ launches new research into digital adoption in home care
- CQC update: learning disabilities and autism
- 2020: the year the domiciliary care sector changed forever
- A welcome move towards digitisation from the CQC
It’s a hugely exciting time for embracing the potential of technology, but it’s important to remember the care that’s at the centre of it. People’s quality of life and wellbeing, in some cases people’s lives, is dependent on the technology that we introduce into home care. And as technology providers, we have a responsibility to remember that as we strive to better our tech.
Want to know more about how our technology has impacted CQC inspection ratings? Read our comprehensive guide on CQC feedback.