Introduction
Following feedback on its wider Consultation, CQC has developed 4 draft Sector-specific Assessment Frameworks for Adult Social Care, Mental Health Care, Primary Care and Community Services, and Hospitals.
These Frameworks are designed to create a more tailored approach to Assessment, and CQC is now asking Providers and others to give feedback before the Consultation closes on 12 June.
What will stay the same?
The 5 Key Questions are still at the heart of the Framework:
· Is the Service safe?
· Is it effective?
· Is it caring?
· Is it responsive?
· Is it well-led?
So Providers are not starting from scratch. The foundations stay the same, but the structure underneath them is changing.
That means Services may need to think less about learning a completely new system and more about understanding how the new layout affects preparation and evidence. From what CQC has shared so far, this looks like the direction things seem to be moving in.
What is different in the new Framework?
CQC says each draft Framework is built from the same core parts:
· the 5 Key Questions
· Key Lines of Enquiry framed as structured questions, which replace the current Quality Statements
· Rating Characteristics describing what Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement and Inadequate Care look like
· I Statements drawn from the Making It Real Framework to keep people’s Lived Experience central to Assessment
This matters because it gives Providers a more defined structure to work with. Rather than relying on broader Quality Statements alone, Services may have clearer prompts around what they will be looking at and how evidence may connect to those areas.
That is what the draft structure is seemingly pointing towards.
Why do Rating Characteristics Matter?
This is one of the biggest parts of the change.
CQC says the Rating Characteristics are a new and important part of the Assessment Frameworks and will provide the basis on which it makes judgements about Care.
They are designed to help Providers and the public understand what good Care looks like, support Inspectors to make consistent judgements, and recognise the important differences between Sectors.
Put simply, they are meant to make expectations clearer.
What about Scoring?
CQC says feedback also strongly agreed with removing scoring from its Assessment Methodology and making Rating judgements directly at Key Question level. It says the Rating Characteristics will support this change.
That means the conversation may shift away from scores and more towards how a Provider’s evidence supports a judgement under each Key Question. For some Services, that may feel simpler.
For others, it may raise questions about how clearly strengths and weaknesses will show up in the final judgement.
What should Providers focus on now?
This is the point where Providers should start looking closely at what is being proposed.
CQC wants feedback on whether the draft Frameworks are clear, practical and useful across the Sectors it regulates. For Providers, this is a good time to step back and ask a few simple questions:
· Which draft Framework applies to our Service?
· Does the structure reflect the reality of how we deliver Care?
· Are the new questions clear enough to work with?
· Do the Rating Characteristics make expectations easier to understand?
· Would this Framework help us prepare more confidently for Assessment?
Why the Consultation matters
The Consultation closes on 12 June, and CQC has said feedback will help shape the Frameworks before they are piloted and tested.
That means you still have the opportunity to speak up. If any part of the Framework feels unclear, difficult to apply, or out of step with practice, now is the time to say so.
What this could mean in Practice
The biggest takeaway is that we may need to think more carefully about how to organise and present evidence.
With Sector-specific Frameworks, structured KLOE-style questions and Rating Characteristics all forming part of the proposed approach, Services will need to be clear on how they show quality in practice, not just in policy.
Bringing more clarity to Practice and Oversight
As expectations around Assessment become more structured, Providers need simple ways to bring clarity to practice, oversight and evidence.
That is where Confident Competence can help.
It is a practical digital system that helps Care Providers assess competency in the workplace, see how Staff are performing, identify where support may be needed, and measure progress over time.
