CQC Compliance Checklist for Domiciliary Care 2026

Medication errors are the single most common reason domiciliary care providers receive Requires Improvement or Inadequate ratings. CQC inspectors will always examine your medication administration records.

• All MAR (Medication Administration Record) sheets are completed for every visit where medication is administered No blank fields, crossed-out entries, or unsigned entries. Inspectors check a random sample of at least 10 service users.
  Critical
• Medication errors (omissions, wrong doses, wrong time) are documented and investigated within 24 hours Each incident must have a root cause analysis and corrective action logged.
  Critical
• PRN (as-needed) medication protocols exist for every service user who takes PRN medication Protocol must specify: what to give, when, how much, and what to do if it doesn't work.
  Required
• Medication competency assessments are on file for all care workers who administer medication Must be completed before the worker administers medication unsupervised, and renewed annually.
  Required
• Medication audits are conducted at least monthly and outcomes are actioned Audit trail must show who conducted it, what was found, and what was done about it.
  Good Practice

Since the rollout of the Digital Social Care Records (DSCR) mandate, CQC expects providers to be moving away from paper MAR and towards electronic systems. eMAR (Electronic Medication Administration Records) are now part of the inspection conversation.

• eMAR system is in use and produces a timestamped, auditable record for every medication event Paper-only systems are increasingly seen as a weakness under the new SAF framework.
  Required
• eMAR completion rate is ≥ 95% across all service users in any 30-day period Below 90% raises inspector concern. Below 85% is a likely enforcement trigger.
  Critical
• Staff can access eMAR offline when internet is unavailable, and records sync automatically on reconnection Rural and low-connectivity areas are not an excuse for missed records.
  Required
• eMAR data is reviewed by a responsible person (registered manager or deputy) at least weekly Evidence of oversight is as important as the data itself.
  Good Practice

Short visits and late arrivals are directly linked to poor care outcomes. Under Quality Statement 1 (Safe: Learning culture) and QS 6 (Responsive: Care provision), inspectors now routinely request visit time logs.

• Visit duration logs show actual time on site (GPS or carer check-in/check-out) for ≥ 98% of visits Estimated times and retrospectively logged times are not sufficient evidence.
  Critical
• No visit is shorter than the commissioned time minus a 5-minute tolerance If a 45-minute visit consistently runs to 30 minutes, that is a safeguarding concern, not just a scheduling issue.
  Critical
• Late arrivals (>15 minutes) are flagged, explained, and reported to the service user or their representative Inspectors will ask service users directly: "Do carers arrive on time?"
  Required
• Travel time between visits is built into rosters — carers are not expected to be in two places at once Double-booked rosters are a regulatory red flag and can result in enforcement action.
  Required
• Monthly exception reports highlight all missed and shortened visits with explanations Demonstrates active management oversight. Absence of exception reporting suggests the manager isn't monitoring.
  Good Practice

Care plans that are out of date are one of the most frequently cited failures in CQC inspection reports for domiciliary care. Under Quality Statement 9 (Effective: Care, support and treatment), inspectors expect care plans to be living documents.

• Every service user has a personalised care plan that is reviewed at least every 6 months High-needs or recently changed service users should be reviewed every 3 months or after any significant change in condition.
  Critical
• Service users (and where appropriate, families or advocates) have been involved in their care plan review Inspectors will ask: "Did someone talk to you about your care plan? Did you agree with what was written?"
  Critical
• Care plans reflect current needs — no pre-printed generic text or copy-paste from previous reviews Inspectors read care plans. Generic plans are an immediate red flag for a culture of box-ticking.
  Critical
• Care plans include specific information about preferences, communication needs, cultural background, and personal identity This maps to Quality Statement 11 (Caring: Treating people as individuals).
  Required
• Risk assessments are embedded in the care plan and updated when risks change Standalone risk assessments that don't connect to the care plan are insufficient.
  Required

It's not incidents that damage CQC ratings — it's poor incident management. Inspectors expect to see a mature learning culture where incidents are reported, investigated, and lead to change.

• All incidents are logged within 24 hours using a consistent template that captures: what happened, who was involved, immediate action, and follow-up Verbal-only incident reporting is not compliant.
  Critical
• Safeguarding referrals are made to the local authority within 24 hours of any safeguarding concern Late safeguarding referrals are among the most serious inspection findings.
  Critical
• Serious incidents are reported to CQC via the Notifications system as required by regulation 18 Notifiable events include: deaths in care, serious injuries, deprivation of liberty, and allegation of abuse.
  Critical
• Post-incident reviews are completed within 72 hours for serious incidents and used to update risk assessments and care plans Evidence of the review and resulting changes must be documented.
  Required
• Incident trends are analysed quarterly — management can identify patterns and demonstrate learning at a service level Inspectors will ask: "What are the main themes in your incidents over the last 12 months? What have you done about them?"
  Good Practice

Training compliance is one of the easiest areas to get right — and yet it's consistently cited in inspection reports. Under Quality Statement 3 (Safe: Safe systems, pathways and transitions) and QS 16 (Well-led: Governance, management and sustainability), inspectors check training matrices carefully.

• 100% of staff have completed mandatory training before providing unsupervised care Mandatory minimum: safeguarding adults, fire safety, manual handling, infection control, first aid, medication (if applicable), and basic food hygiene.
  Critical
• Training records show completion date, training method, and expiry date — and are stored in a retrievable format Inspectors may request training records for specific staff on the day. Inability to produce them within the inspection window is a compliance failure.
  Critical
• Refresher training is booked before certificates expire — no gaps in training coverage exist at any point A training matrix showing future expiry dates, not just historical completions, demonstrates proactive management.
  Required
• Supervisions and appraisals are recorded for all staff at the required frequency (typically supervision 6-weekly, appraisal annually) Supervision records should reflect genuine development conversations, not just tick-box attendance records.
  Required

Service user and family feedback is central to the new Single Assessment Framework. Quality Statement 11 (Caring: Treating people as individuals) and QS 12 (Caring: Independence, choice and control) both require evidence of gathering and acting on feedback.

• Satisfaction surveys are conducted at least annually for all service users — and responses are documented At minimum: verbal feedback during care plan reviews with a written record. Ideally: structured survey with quantitative scoring.
  Critical
• Feedback (positive or negative) is reviewed by management and actioned where appropriate Inspectors will ask: "What did you do when service users told you something wasn't working?" If the answer is "we logged it", that's not sufficient.
  Required
• Staff satisfaction is also measured — CQC inspectors interview workers and note morale, management support, and psychological safety An unhappy workforce is a service quality risk. Anonymous staff surveys demonstrate good governance.
  Required
• Feedback outcomes are shared with service users and families — "You said, we did" Closing the feedback loop is a marker of Outstanding. Most Good-rated services gather feedback but forget to feed back the results.
  Good Practice

A complaints procedure is a legal requirement under the Health and Social Care Act. Quality Statement 15 (Responsive: Improving care quality) requires evidence that complaints drive real improvement — not just apology letters.

• A written complaints policy exists, is available to service users and families, and includes escalation routes (Local Government Ombudsman, CQC) Service users must know how to escalate if they are not satisfied with your response.
  Critical
• All complaints are acknowledged within 3 working days and resolved within 28 days (or complainant informed of timeline if longer) Inspectors check complaint logs and will contact complainants who gave permission to verify the experience.
  Critical
• Complaint outcomes are reviewed at management meetings at least quarterly to identify trends If you've had 5 complaints about the same carer or the same process, that's a governance failure if you haven't identified and addressed it.
  Required
• Compliments are recorded alongside complaints — and used to recognise staff and identify good practice to spread Inspectors ask: "Do you know what you do well, not just what you do badly?"
  Good Practice

Based on published CQC inspection reports for domiciliary care providers, these are the most frequently cited issues that lead to Requires Improvement or Inadequate ratings.

The Digital Social Care Records (DSCR) standards define what "good" looks like for electronic care records in UK social care. While CQC doesn't directly enforce DSCR, it uses DSCR maturity as evidence of governance quality under the Single Assessment Framework.