CQC framework changes: what this means for your service
CQC has published draft sector-specific assessment frameworks for adult social care, mental health care, primary care and community services, and hospitals. The consultation closes on 12 June 2026, with pilots and testing expected in summer 2026 before final frameworks and guidance are published.
CQC is asking whether the draft frameworks will make assessments clearer, help providers understand what CQC will be looking for, and support better quality of care.
For adult social care providers, the practical message is simple.
Do not stop preparing under the current Single Assessment Framework. It remains the framework in use until the new sector-specific frameworks are formally implemented. Your inspection today is still built around the current five key questions and 34 quality statements.
But do not ignore what is coming either.
The draft direction moves away from one single framework for every sector and toward a more specific adult social care framework. Quality statements are expected to be replaced by KLOE-style assessment questions. Numerical scoring is being removed. Rating characteristics are being brought back, meaning providers should have a clearer view of what Good, Requires Improvement, Inadequate and Outstanding look like in practice.
The risk for services is not the label change from “quality statements” to “KLOEs”.
The risk is whether your evidence can still be followed.
If CQC followed one live issue through your service, could you show what was noticed, where it was recorded, who reviewed it, what changed, whether the action worked, and how leaders knew the issue was held?
That evidence thread matters under the current framework. It is also likely to matter under the emerging framework, because both are still concerned with whether care is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
What to do now
If you are preparing for inspection now, use the SAF Readiness Manual first. It is built around the current 34 quality statements and gives you a working build standard for the framework in force now. The resource pack itself positions Part 1 for services preparing under the current framework.
If you are preparing for the emerging framework, use the KLOE Evidence Thread Manual. It is aligned to the draft adult social care KLOE structure and focuses on whether practice, records, oversight and people’s outcomes can be followed from signal to outcome.
If you want to test your evidence properly, use the Full Resource Pack or book an Inspection Readiness Review. The pack’s own “fast route for a manager” is simple: choose one live issue, follow it from signal to record, review, action, outcome and oversight, then write down the first break point before creating more paperwork.
Driven by curiosity and built on purpose, this is where bold thinking meets thoughtful execution. Let’s create something meaningful together.