My CQC registered service hasn’t been inspected for years! How do I get inspected?
This is a question we are asked on a regular basis. Whilst the thought of CQC appearing on your doorstep can be very daunting, for a great many services, languishing uninspected for many years with (usually) a ‘Requires Improvement’ rating can be both demoralising and be hitting you financially.
Good news is on the horizon
CQC are very alive to this issue and have recognised that a long uninspected service potentially carries risk just as one losing a Registered Manager might. In January 2026, CQC revised its inspection priorities in an aim to reduce its backlog of inspections. If your service fits into one of these categories, CQC could be at your door very soon:
- Services with high, urgent, or emerging risks
- Services that have never been assessed or have been registered for over a year
- Services with older ratings (six years or more)
Six years seems like a very long time, and CQC know this! Each region does have a plan to reduce backlog (and therefore the wait time) and aims to ultimately inspect every service registered but it will, unfortunately, take time. Particularly when in some CQC regions, managers are carrying a significant number of vacancies and just don’t have the inspectors to complete the reviews.
There are steps that you can take as a service that might bump your service up the list
Of course, your starting position is making sure you are compliant with the Fundamental Standards of Care in the Regulated Activities Regulations, and that you have addressed all the deficiencies identified in your last report.
Shout about the good work you’ve done on your website. You have to show your CQC rating, but you can also show good news stories about changes and improvements you have made over the years that help show the wider public that the service is not reflected by the (very) old report you still must share.
An RI rating can hit you financially and CQC consider financial hardship to come into the high urgent or emerging risk category listed above; they don’t want services closing down because of their ratings.
If you’re a care home – can you show that the number of vacancies has increased? Have local authorities stopped placing with you?
If you’re a domiciliary care service – can you show you have missed out on tenders for more work because of your RI rating? Sometimes having an RI rating can even stop you from re-tendering for the service you might already be providing!
Put together a short business case that demonstrates the financial impact of the RI rating on your service and present it to CQC alongside evidence of the improvements you have made. Anecdotal commentary from CQC is that if they can find a way to, for example, confirm breaches have been addressed or carry out short safe / well led focused inspections instead of a full review, then they will take that action.
Get your Local Authority on board. If you can demonstrate to them your compliance – whether that’s through a PAMMS audit or other Local Authority assessment tool. Whilst CQC will never rely on it themselves, its great evidence of the strength of your service and something that may help get CQC back into your service.
Be patient but be prepared
Make sure you’ve got good quality evidence to show CQC that how you operate now is very different to the previous service – this is your opportunity to shine – make sure after all the effort in getting them back, you don’t still end up as RI.
We can’t guarantee when CQC will come back to your service, but if you don’t ask you don’t get, and if you can present a compelling, measured case to CQC you just might strike lucky!
Contact us
If you require any advice or assistance on any CQC related matters, don’t hesitate to contact Hempsons at socialcare@hempsons.co.uk or by using the contact form below. You may also be interested in our Single Assessment Toolkit that helps you prepare for CQC inspections.