Most CQC failures aren’t caused by funding or staffing but by missing systems, poor implementation, and policies that never make it into practice
Between 2023 and 2025, nearly 200 health and social care providers in England were rated “Inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). This included 47 domiciliary care agencies and 111 care homes, all of which were found to have serious, systemic weaknesses in areas such as governance, safety, safeguarding, and the overall quality of care.
But the key takeaway from these failures may surprise you. Most of them weren’t caused by isolated incidents, lack of funding, or staff shortages.
Instead, the most common underlying issue was this:
“The absence, or poor implementation, of fundamental policies and procedures.”
Policies were either missing, sitting unread in a folder, or not embedded into daily practice. In other words, providers had the documents but no systems to turn them into action.
In this article,Dr Richard Duneunpacks why so many providers continue to fail inspections and how you can avoid the same fate by putting structure, leadership, and accountability at the centre of your compliance and care delivery.
When CQC inspectors visit, they’re not just looking for a tick-box policy folder or cloud-based platform. They want to know:
“Can this provider consistently deliver safe, person-centred care and prove it with evidence?”
Time and again, inspection reports reveal the same recurring problems.
Below are some of the most common failures identified in CQC reports from 2023 to 2025.
These aren’t just oversights; they’re apparent breaches of CQC regulations. The most frequently cited ones include:
It’s crucial to understand that these failings are rarely about ‘bad apples’. Instead, they reflect a lack of internal systems, oversight, and structure.
Most providers have a set of policies.
But in far too many cases, they are:
A policy that’s not read, understood, applied, and audited is effectively useless.
CQC inspectors know this. That’s why they don’t just ask if you have a policy, they ask:
This is where ComplyPlus™ makes the real difference. It’s not just a document library; it’s a fully integrated compliance management system.
Source: Newzimbabwe
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