Avoiding 10 Common CQC Mistakes

Running a high-quality care service in a regulated environment is no small feat, especially under the watchful eye of sector regulators. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) plays a crucial role in holding services to account, making sure people get the care they deserve. And while the standards are high, they exist for a reason.

Meeting CQC expectations shouldn’t just be about ticking boxes. It’s about delivering care that’s safe, person-centred, and genuinely life-enhancing. The five key questions they ask cut straight to the heart of quality:

• Well-led: Is leadership strong, and does it champion continuous improvement?
• Responsive: Are services shaped around individual needs?
• Caring: Are people treated with dignity, kindness, and compassion?
• Safe: Are there clear systems to prevent harm?
• Effective: Is care evidence-based and delivering good outcomes?

Understanding what CQC inspectors are looking for, and why, is half the battle. We’ve listed some common pitfalls in CQC inspections, and what you can do to avoid them.

Audits with No Action

Audits are only useful if they lead somewhere. CQC doesn’t just want to see that you’re identifying issues – they want to see how you're learning from them and improving. Regulation 17: Good governance requires services to assess, monitor and improve quality. That means audits should be more than paperwork – they should feed into a live improvement cycle that’s documented, shared, and reflected in practice.

For example, if medication errors are spotted, what changed? Was additional training delivered? Was practice monitored? Did it improve?

What good looks like:
A clear cycle of learning: problem → action → outcome. Documented, evidenced, and shared with your team.

Training Gaps and Out-of-Date Knowledge

If staff don’t know what ‘good’ looks like, they can’t deliver it. That means training needs to be up-to-date and meaningful, not just a one-off during induction.

This links directly to Regulation 18, which outlines that “Staff must receive the support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisals that are necessary for them to carry out their role and responsibilities.”

Training and development need to go beyond the basics so that staff feel confident in delivering quality care. Every team member should understand how their role supports compliance - not just in theory, but in daily practice.

What good looks like:
Competency-based training, tracked and refreshed regularly, with clear links to staff supervision and audit findings.

Medication Management Missteps

Getting medication management right is non-negotiable. This area is heavily linked to Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment, which specifically mentions “the proper and safe management of medicines.”

Training alone isn’t enough - staff also need regular competency assessments. They need to know how to follow the policy and what to do when things go wrong. This isn’t a one-and-done task. Your policy should set out how often these checks happen (e.g., every 12 months), and your records must clearly evidence it.

Audits must also pick up on issues. If the CQC spots errors that internal audits missed, that calls the whole governance system into question.

What good looks like:
Clear medication policies, regular competency assessments, accurate MARs, and audits that pick up and respond to errors.

Feedback That Goes Nowhere

Feedback is gold dust – but only if you do something with it. Whether it’s a complaint or a compliment, it deserves a response. The CQC wants to know how you gather feedback, how you respond to it, and how it shapes your service. Under Regulation 16, providers must have effective systems in place to handle and respond to complaints. But the CQC doesn’t just want to see a policy – they want to know how it works in practice.

The best services use feedback to drive improvement, and involves staff in the process.

What good looks like:
Systems that gather and learn from feedback – and make changes as a result.

Missing the Mark on Person-Centred Care

This cuts across multiple regulations, including Regulation 9: Person-centred care, which sets the expectation that care is “appropriate, meets needs, and reflects preferences.” And it’s about more than personalised care plans. It’s about making sure every aspect of someone’s experience is shaped around who they are.

Ask yourself:

• Are staff trained to deliver genuinely person-centred support?
• Are care plans updated, meaningful, and reflective of people’s preferences?
• Is there evidence that people’s choices actively shape the care they receive?

What good looks like:
Person-centred care that’s lived, not laminated: evident in daily practice, team discussions, and inspection outcomes.

Issues Around the Mental Capacity Act (MCA)

The CQC inspects compliance with the MCA as part of Regulation 11: Need for consent and Regulation 13: Safeguarding. It remains a widely misunderstood piece of legislation in the sector. But it’s vital. Not just for compliance, but for upholding people’s rights.

Common pitfalls include:

• Capacity assessments that are incomplete or lack context
• Best interest decisions without clear rationale
• Restraint not properly recognised or reviewed
• Confusion around the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)

What good looks like:
Staff who understand the MCA, know when and how to apply it, and can evidence their decision-making clearly.

Governance That Doesn’t Deliver

Good governance is how you know your service is safe, effective, and improving. Without it, even strong practice can unravel. Under Regulation 17: Good governance, governance systems should drive improvement, not just describe it. The CQC wants to see how your service monitors and identifies risks and acts on what it finds, not just in theory, but in the day-to-day reality of care.

This means more than having policies in place. It includes:

• Effective audits and action plans
• Clear leadership and culture
• Staff competence and confidence
• A documented learning and improvement cycle

What good looks like:
Joined-up leadership, clear action planning, competent staff, and a visible learning cycle.

Staffing (It’s Not Just About Numbers)

Under Regulation 18: Staffing, you need to show that staffing levels are safe, but also that staff are skilled, supported, and well-managed. That means you need a safe recruitment process, with robust checks for qualifications, background and work history. It also includes inductions and onboarding, effective supervision, ongoing development, and accurate competence checks.

It also means maintaining staffing levels. Understaffing, over-reliance on agency staff, and not having a clear picture of your rota gaps can all contribute to non-compliance.

Staff turnover in adult social care is still over 28%, according to Skills for Care. That kind of churn can disrupt consistency unless it’s balanced with strong supervision and solid support systems.

You and your team should feel supported, developed and valued. And your systems should show this through training logs, supervisions, appraisals, and more.

What good looks like:
Robust recruitment, effective onboarding, regular supervision, and evidence that staff feel valued and competent.

Proactive (Not Reactive) Risk Management

Risk management forms part of Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment, which requires providers to “assess the risks to the health and safety of service users and do all that is reasonably practicable to mitigate such risks.”

CQC expects providers to identify and manage risk proactively, not just after something has gone wrong. This includes having clear systems for incident reporting, learning from near-misses, and reviewing care consistently across the team.

Inconsistent risk management is also a red flag. All staff should understand and follow the same policies and procedures. If one shift does something completely differently from another, that’s a risk in itself.

What good looks like:
Clear, shared processes for risk assessment, consistent staff practice, and learning from incidents.

Poor Record-Keeping

“If it’s not written down, it didn’t happen.” It’s a cliché for a reason.

Missing or disorganised records aren’t just frustrating, they can slow down care, confuse staff, and weaken compliance. Providers need clear, up-to-date documentation across all areas.

Record-keeping links back to multiple regulations – including Regulation 17: Good governance, Regulation 12: Safe care, and Regulation 9: Person-centred care. Whether it’s a care plan, a training log, or an incident report – if it’s not recorded, the CQC can’t see it, and can’t rate it.

What good looks like:
Well-maintained records that reflect the reality of care – care plans, training logs, audits, feedback forms, and everything in between.

In Summary

Most providers don’t set out to fall short – but it happens. Especially when the pressure’s on, the team’s stretched, or there’s confusion about what ‘good’ actually looks like.

The good news? Every issue we’ve covered is fixable. With the right culture, systems, and commitment, compliance becomes part of your DNA, not a once-a-year panic.