Top reasons why health & social care providers fail CQC checks
By Dr Richard Dune
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 Dune unpacks 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.
Most common CQC failures
- Outdated or missing risk assessments, particularly for high-risk needs like choking, epilepsy, diabetes, or mobility issues.
- Medication errors – missing PRN protocols, inaccurate Medication Administration Records (MARs), and lack of medication audits.
- Mental Capacity Act (MCA) breaches – no capacity assessments, no best-interest decision logs, no DoLS authorisations.
- Lack of quality assurance cycles – no audits, no lessons learned, and no responses to repeated mistakes.
- Unsafe recruitment and staffing – staff working without DBS clearance, incomplete onboarding, and no statutory training.
These aren’t just oversights; they’re apparent breaches of CQC regulations. The most frequently cited ones include:
- Regulation 12 – Safe care and treatment
- Regulation 13 – Safeguarding from abuse
- Regulation 17 – Good governance
- Regulation 18 – Staffing and training
- Regulation 19 – Fit and proper persons employed
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:
- Stored on a shared drive
- Printed and filed away
- Uploaded to a software system that no one checks.
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:
- How is this policy implemented in practice?
- Can the staff explain it?
- Is it monitored, reviewed, and driving outcomes for service users?
This is where ComplyPlus™ makes the real difference. It’s not just a document library; it’s a fully integrated compliance management system.
ComplyPlus™ helps you:
- Embed policies into daily workflows
- Link compliance to training, supervision, and audits
- Turn regulatory expectations into repeatable routines.
We designed it to address the structural reasons why providers fail inspections rather than just providing generic templates.
The ComplyPlus™ 10-Policy framework
To help providers address the issues most commonly found in CQC inspection reports, we developed the ComplyPlus™ 10-Policy Framework, a strategic toolkit aligned with regulations, risk areas, and operational needs.
Let’s explore each of the 10 areas and how ComplyPlus™ helps you build lasting compliance.
1. Governance and quality assurance
Failure: No audit cycle, no quality dashboard, no governance structure.
Regulation: Regulation 17 – Good governance
Solution: Build monthly audit schedules, add real-time dashboards, and maintain governance logs for senior oversight. Non-conformities and actions are tracked automatically.
2. Risk assessment and safety
Failure: Missing or templated risk assessments for key clinical and behavioural risks.
Regulation: Regulation 12 – Safe care and treatment
Solution: Use condition-specific templates with review reminders. Integrate risk alerts into care plans to prevent incidents before they occur.
3. Medication management
Failure: No PRN protocols, MAR sheets missing data, no audits.
Regulation: Regulation 12 – Safe care and treatment
Solution: Weekly digital audits, eMAR integration, and real-time medication tracking with staff competency validation.
4. Recruitment and safer staffing
Failure: Incomplete recruitment checks and induction.
Regulation: Regulation 19 – Fit and proper persons
Solution: Pre-employment checklists, automatic alerts for DBS and references, plus links to rota software to prevent unsupervised deployment.
5. Training and competency
Failure: No training evidence or role-specific skills mapping.
Regulations: Regulations 12 & 18
Solution: Individual training records with built-in assessments, gap analysis, and CPD audits linked to care packages.
6. Mental capacity and consent
Failure: No MCA or DoLS documentation.
Regulation: Regulation 11 – Need for consent
Solution: Capacity assessment templates, best-interest decision logs, and MCA audit tools. Assign MCA champions to promote compliance.
7. Safeguarding and whistleblowing
Failure: Unreported concerns, no logs, poor staff awareness.
Regulation: Regulation 13 – Safeguarding
Solution: Supervision prompts, safeguarding in team meeting agendas, and automated alerts for incident tracking and whistleblowing follow-up.
8. Care planning and person-centred support
Failure: Generic or copy-paste care plans.
Regulations: Regulations 9 & 10
Solution: Co-produced templates, review cycles, and tools to involve families and advocates.
9. Complaints and learning culture
Failure: Complaints ignored, no learning loops.
Regulations: Regulations 16 & 20
Solution: Central complaint tracker, RCA tools, and structured reflective practice sessions to foster accountability and learning.
10. EDI – Equality, diversity and inclusion
Failure: Cultural needs ignored, no language support.
Regulation: Regulation 10 – Dignity and respect
Solution: EDI assessment tools, format/language preferences embedded in care planning, and mandatory cultural competency training.
Yes, the care sector is under pressure. Recruitment is tough. Budgets are squeezed. However, the most consistent reason providers fail isn’t a lack of resources; it’s a lack of structure.
Even the most caring team cannot deliver high-quality care without the following:
- Clear systems
- Embedded policies
- Audited processes
- Ongoing training and learning.
Outstanding care isn’t about luck. It’s about leadership and repeatable systems.
We created ComplyPlus™ at The Mandatory Training Group to help providers move from survival to sustainability.
You get more than a digital binder of policies; you gain a compliance framework built for action:
Best of all? You don’t need to overhaul your entire system. ComplyPlus™ integrates with your existing infrastructure and is easy to roll out, even for small providers.
Whether you’re:
- A new provider preparing for registration
- A registered manager recovering from a ‘Requires Improvement’
- A group service seeking consistency across sites.
Now is the time to act. CQC inspections are changing, but your approach doesn’t have to be reactive.
What you can do today:
- Audit your current policy suite – Are they compliant, accessible, and in practice?
- Review risk assessments – Are they personal, dynamic, and regularly updated?
- Check training and supervision records – Are you evidencing competence?
- Start your governance rhythm – Build monthly audit and review cycles
- Book a ComplyPlus™ demo – Let us help you identify blind spots before inspectors do.
CQC failures don’t come out of nowhere. They are predictable, preventable, and, most importantly, fixable.
If your team lacks structure, your systems don’t support good practice, and your policies don’t translate into action, you’re at risk. But with the right tools and leadership, you can create a culture of continuous improvement.
Don’t wait until you’re in crisis. Invest in structure. Build in quality. Stay inspection-ready.
At The Mandatory Training Group, we created ComplyPlus™ to help providers embed lasting quality into everything they do, from policies and training to audits, supervision, and beyond.
Explore our complete compliance ecosystem:
- ComplyPlus™ LMS – CPD-accredited training mapped to real-world risks
- ComplyPlus™ Compliance Centre – Live dashboards and audit tools
- ComplyPlus™ TMS – Internal training and CPD tracking
- ComplyPlus™ Policies & Procedures – Fully editable, always aligned
- ComplyPlus™ Legal – Ready-to-use HR, employment, and contract templates.
Learn more about ComplyPlus™ and discover how we’re helping providers across England deliver safe, effective, and well-led services.
Dr Richard Dune is the CEO of LearnPac Systems, a leading UK provider of edtech and compliance software solutions for regulated sectors. He specialises in governance, compliance, and innovation in both public and private sectors. He can be reached at [email protected] or +44 24 7610 0090.
