Care workers' guide to CQC

We have produced this information together with the Care Workers’ Charity, and their care worker advisory board and champions members. Its aim is to help paid care workers learn who we are and how we carry out inspections.

This guidance also aims to clarify what is expected of care workers during an inspection. This follows discussions in a focus group for care workers in June 2025, which found that care workers didn’t know how to act during a CQC inspection. Sometimes managers would be stressed, which could make the work environment strained, and this affected how they could provide care for people.

Who we are

CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. You will most likely see us when we visit your service to assess the care people receive.

Read our commitments, values and behaviours.

Our purpose

We work together with the public, systems and providers of care to protect people, and to promote and improve the quality of care.

Our vision

Everyone receives safe, effective and compassionate care.

What we do

Register health and social care services

Care providers must register with us by law before they can deliver any activities that we regulate (called ‘regulated activities’). These activities include the care, support and treatment provided by services such as care homes and homecare agencies, among many other types of health services in both the NHS and independent sector.

Before we can register a care provider, they must prove to us that they can meet a number of legal requirements set out in regulations, and that they will continue to meet them once registered. The regulations include the fundamental standards of care.

The fundamental standards under the Health and Social Care Act 2008

Care should never fall below the standards in these regulations, and we can take appropriate enforcement action where we find it does. We expect all people to be supported in line with the fundamental standards.

The fundamental standards of care mean that everyone receiving care must:

• have enough to eat and drink to keep them in good health while they receive care and treatment
• have care or treatment that is tailored to them and meets their needs and preferences
• be treated with dignity and respect at all times while receiving care and treatment
• give their consent (or anybody legally acting on their behalf) before any care or treatment is given to them
• be given care and treatment that is safe and will not cause them harm
• not suffer any form of abuse or improper treatment while receiving care.

The care provider must also:

• ensure the place where people receive care and treatment, and the equipment used in it, is clean, suitable and looked after properly
• have a system to handle and respond to complaints
• tell the person receiving care (if something goes wrong with their care or treatment) what has happened, provide support and apologise
• display their CQC rating in a place where everyone can see it
• only employ people who can provide care and treatment that they are suitably qualified to deliver and that matches their job role
• have enough suitably qualified, competent and experienced staff to make sure they can meet these fundamental standards
• have plans that make sure they can meet these fundamental standards.

Monitor and inspect health and social care services

Once a care provider has registered with us, we make sure its staff provide care that matches their job role and skill set.

We gather information from the care service and views of the public, which helps us to decide when, where and what to inspect.

Inspections give us an opportunity to talk to staff and people who use services. They also allow us to observe the interactions between staff and the people they support, and to check the systems and processes that the service uses.

We may also look at people’s records to see how the service is managing their needs, while following strict rules about protecting their information.

There are 5 questions we ask of all care services. They are at the heart of the way we regulate, and they help us to make sure we focus on what matters to people.

These 5 key questions are:

• Is it safe? Are people protected from abuse and avoidable harm.
• Is it effective? Does people’s care, treatment and support achieve good results and help them maintain their quality of life, and is it based on the best available evidence?
• Is it caring? Do staff involve people and treat them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect?
• Is it responsive? Are services organised so that they can meet people’s needs?
• Is it well-led? Do the leaders of the organisation make sure that it’s providing high-quality care that’s based around people’s needs? And do they encourage learning and innovation and promote an open and fair culture?

For more details about how we inspect, our ratings and how we take action, see how we do our job.