Whether you’re preparing for your next inspection or simply want the reassurance you’re doing things the right way, QCS helps you understand the 13 Fundamental Standards, stay compliant and evidence good care with confidence.
Stay inspection ready with QCSWhat are the CQC Standards?
These fundamental standards are the standards that care must never fall below while care is being given.
Person-centred care
You must have care or treatment that is tailored to you and meets your needs and preferences.
Dignity and respect
You must be treated with dignity and respect at all times while you are receiving care and treatment.
This includes making sure:
- You have privacy when you need and want it
- Everybody is treated as equals
- You are given any support you need to help you remain independent and involved in your local community
Consent
You (or anybody legally acting on your behalf) must give your consent before any care or treatment is given to you.
Safety
You must not be given unsafe care or treatment or be put at risk of harm that could be avoided.
Providers must assess the risks to your health and safety during any care or treatment and make sure their staff have the qualifications, competence, skills, and experience to keep you safe.
Safeguarding from abuse
You must not suffer any form of abuse or improper treatment while receiving care.
This includes:
- Neglect
- Degrading treatment
- Unnecessary or disproportionate restraint
- Inappropriate limits on your freedom
Food and drink
You must have enough to eat and drink to keep you in good health while you receive care and treatment.
Premise and equipment
The places where you receive care and treatment and the equipment used in it must be clean, suitable, and looked after properly.
The equipment used in your care and treatment must also be secure and used properly.
Complaints
You must be able to complain about your care and treatment.
The provider of your care must have a system in place so they can handle and respond to your complaint. They must investigate it thoroughly and take action if problems are identified.
Good governance
The provider of your care must have plans that ensure they can meet these standards.
They must have effective governance and systems to check on the quality and safety of care. These must help the service improve and reduce any risks to your health, safety, and welfare.
Staffing
The provider of your care must have enough suitably qualified, competent, and experienced staff to make sure they can meet these standards.
Their staff must be given the support, training, and supervision they need to help them do their job.
Fit and proper staff
The provider of your care must only employ people who can provide care and treatment appropriate to their role. They must have strong recruitment procedures in place and carry out relevant checks such as on applicants’ criminal records and work history.
Duty of candour
The provider of your care must be open and transparent with you about your care and treatment.
Should something go wrong, they must tell you what has happened, provide support, and apologise.
Display of ratings
The provider of your care must display their CQC rating in a place where you can see it. They must also include this information on their website and make our latest report on their service available to you.
Updates to the CQC Standards
Any and all updates to the CQC Standards will be communicated via its website.
See how QCS supports the Fundamental Standards
How to use these to ensure compliance with the CQC?
How QCS helps you meet the CQC Fundamental Standards
Staying compliant with the CQC Fundamental Standards is much easier when you have the right support. QCS brings together trusted guidance, up-to-date policies and practical tools to help you feel confident, evidence good care and stay inspection ready every day.
Person-centred care sits at the heart of QCS. Rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach, every policy is designed to support individual needs, with care plans guiding day-to-day decisions.
When CQC assesses your service, it focuses on five key questions:
- Safe – Are people protected from abuse and avoidable harm?
- Effective – Does care achieve good outcomes and reflect best practice?
- Caring – Are people treated with kindness, dignity and respect?
- Responsive – Are services organised around people’s individual needs?
- Well-led – Does leadership support high-quality care and continuous improvement?
Together, these questions help inspectors understand whether your service is delivering safe, effective and person-centred care in line with the CQC Fundamental Standards.
The Keys Lines of Enquiry (KLOES)
These five key questions are broken down into a further set of questions. These called the Key Lines of Enquiry or you may have heard them referred to as KLOE for short. As well as the Key Questions and the KLOE, CQC also uses Prompts.
Sources of Evidence
To help the inspection teams focus their inspections, they use a standard set of KLOEs and prompts. To support this, CQC published the Adult Social Care Key Lines of Enquiry and Prompts: Sources of Evidence.
So, for example, sitting alongside the prompts, CQC can look at the following in relation to Safe and the KLOE s1.
FAQs: Feel more confident about meeting the CQC Fundamental Standards
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Policies are only one part of the picture. Inspectors want to see how your team puts the CQC Fundamental Standards into practice every day. They’ll look for evidence that people receive safe, effective and person-centred care, alongside feedback, observations and day-to-day records that show good care in action.
Why is evidence so important during a CQC assessment?
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It’s not enough to say you’re delivering good care – you need to be able to show it. Having clear policies, consistent processes and the right evidence helps demonstrate how your service meets the Fundamental Standards and supports positive outcomes for the people you care for.
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QCS helps make compliance part of everyday care, not something you only think about when CQC gets in touch. With trusted policies, expert guidance, audits and practical tools all in one place, it’s easier to stay organised, evidence good care and feel confident you’re inspection ready.
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Person-centred care sits at the heart of QCS. Every policy is designed to support individual needs rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, helping your team make decisions based on each person’s care plan while delivering safe, consistent and compassionate care.
Need a helping hand with the CQC Fundamental Standards?
Keeping on top of the CQC Fundamental Standards isn’t always easy. Guidance changes, expectations evolve, and finding the time to stay on top of it all alongside running a service can feel like another job in itself.
That’s why QCS is here to help.