Enforcement policy

Updates to this policy 

This policy was first published in 2015. It has since been updated to refer to our current assessment methods and terminology. Recent changes include:

• Noting change of term from Requirement Notices to Action Plans, as previous terminology will be present in inspection reports.
• Under ‘Protecting people using services by requiring improvement’:
  • we removed the reference to ‘enforcement’ from the first paragraph, as not all actions referenced constitute enforcement
  • the section on ‘Action plan requests’ notes that these do not constitute enforcement action and CQC may decide not to accept an action plan
  • the section on Warning Notices notes these are a provision under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
• Under ‘Publication and notification of enforcement action’:
  • we note that enforcement actions are no longer included in assessment reports
  • we note that enforcement actions are currently published at location level on our website (not at provider level).