How Does CQC Registration Work & Who Needs to Do It?

If you provide a care service in England, then you need to be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This ensures that the highest standards of care are maintained, all relevant legislation and regulations are complied with, and all patients and their families can be confident of consistent, well managed levels of care at all times.

In this article, we look at who needs to register with the CQC, and the process of doing so.

Regulated activity

CQC registration is required for any providing a regulated activity.

There are 14 regulated activities including:

• Personal care
• Accommodation for nursing or personal care
• Accommodation for the treatment of substance misuse
• The treatment of disease
• Disorder or injury
• Assessment or treatment for anyone detained under the Mental Health Act 1983
• Surgical procedures
• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Management of supply of blood and blood-derived products
• Transport services
• Triage and medical advice provided remotely
• Maternity and midwifery service
• Pregnancy termination
• Slimming clinic service
• Nursing care and family planning services.

Registered providers

A registered provider is a legal entity who carries out any kind of regulated activities. Individuals are the people who carry out the activities themselves and will need to register their own name and the activities that they carry out. Partnerships have two or more individuals providing a regulated activity together and must register as a partnership.

An organisation could be the local authority, an NHS trust, a registered company or charity, a limited liability partnership (LLP) or another kind of corporate body. In this instance, it is the organisation that is registered with the CQC and not the individuals who are involved in it.

A CQC application

CQC applications will differ depending on the type of provider that you are and the regulated activities that you offer, but most will need to submit an enhanced DBS check for any registered managers, supporting documents such as policies, business plans and a staff training matrix and any suitable registrations with qualifications. If you are not a sole trader, then you will also need to supply a registered manager form and statement of purpose and any references.

If you have multiple locations then each one will need to be registered with the CQC, although this can be done in one application.

Once an application has been received, the CQC will make an assessment and determine whether or not they are satisfied with the fitness and compliance with regulations of the individuals or organisation. Any registration comes with conditions, such as where a particular regulated activity can be provided.

Registered managers

In some cases, a provider might have a manager who is registered with the CQC as a condition of the provider’s registration. These managers must meet certain requirements and will have legal responsibilities for meeting the requirements of relevant regulations and enactments.

A registered manager can be imposed on a partnership, organisation or an individual who is not personally in day-to-day charge of carrying out regulated activities or is not considered fit to do so.

There is often more than one registered manager for an organisation that has multiple registered locations, and a registered manager can manage several regulated activities or multiple locations if they are able to show the CQC that they have the capacity, capability, skills, qualifications and experience to do so.

It is important to remember that it is a legal obligation to register the provision of any regulated activity in England, and the failure to do so is an offence. It is therefore important to understand how the rules apply to you and what you need to submit in your application to ensure that it is complete, comprehensive, and correct.

If you would like to learn more about how Delphi Care can support your service with its CQC registration, feel free to book a consultation with one of our Task Force or give us a call on 03331 333 002.