CQC software, built to help you achieve Outstanding.
wai is clinic software for CQC registered providers in England that runs booking, clinical notes, patient messaging, payments and records, and keeps a dated record of each one that you can show an inspector. Built to help you achieve Outstanding, with patients answered the same day in their own language and notes drafted for the clinician to review and sign.
CQC groups the evidence it collects, on site and off site, into 6 categories.2
01
People's experience of health and care services
Feedback, surveys and interviews with the people who use the service, and their families and carers.
02
Feedback from staff and leaders
Staff surveys, interviews, focus groups and whistleblowing.
03
Feedback from partners
Commissioners, other providers, professional regulators and accreditation bodies.
04
Observation
Inspectors and specialist advisors observing care and the care environment, on site.
05
Processes
Audits, learning from safety incidents, access times and reviews of clinical records.
06
Outcomes
The effect of care on people, from readmissions and infection rates to patient reported outcomes.
How are CQC ratings calculated?
CQC scores each quality statement it assesses, turns the scores into a rating for each key question, and combines those into an overall rating.3
Outstanding88% and above
Good63 to 87%
Requires improvement39 to 62%
Inadequate25 to 38%
1 to 4
is the score for each quality statement assessed, from significant shortfalls to an exceptional standard.3
2 of 5
key questions rated Outstanding, with the rest Good, is normally what an overall Outstanding needs.3
10 days
working days to check the draft report for factual accuracy, and send the evidence that was missed.4
A key question's rating comes from its quality statement scores, as a share of the maximum possible.
A key question in the Good range is limited to Requires improvement if any of its quality statements scores 1.
A key question in the Outstanding range is limited to Good if any of its quality statements scores 1 or 2.
The 5 key questions are weighted equally in the overall rating.
What is changing at CQC?
CQC is redrafting how it assesses providers, and the 5 key questions and 4 ratings stay the same.
In force today is the single assessment framework, with its 5 key questions, 34 quality statements and 6 evidence categories.
In March 2026 CQC published draft sector frameworks. They replace quality statements with key lines of enquiry and rating characteristics, with no scores.5
As of 15 October 2026 the drafts are not final, and the single assessment framework remains in use for inspections.
What should CQC compliance software actually run?
wai runs seven parts of a provider's day, and each one keeps a record CQC can read.
01
Appointments and booking
Online booking from your own website, every clinician's diary read from their calendar, reminders, rebooking after a missed visit and waitlist offers when a slot opens.
Online booking at any hour, with a reminder before the visit.
For the business
Fewer missed appointments, and cancelled slots offered to the waitlist.
On the record
Every booking, reminder and change, with a time and a name.
02
Billing and payments
Card payments into your own Stripe account, the cancellation policy shown at booking, invoices, statements and reconciliation, with an export for your accountant.
A clear price and policy before they commit, and an invoice in their app.
For the business
Payments reconciled against visits, with an export for your accountant.
On the record
What was charged, when, against which visit, and the policy the patient saw.
03
AI scribe and clinical notes
The note, letters and referrals written from the consultation, cited to guidelines such as NICE, with the transcript beside the note, for the clinician to read, edit and sign.
The clinician's attention stays on them during the consultation.
For the business
Less time spent writing notes after clinic.
On the record
A contemporaneous note, signed, with the time, the signature and the source it cites.
04
Follow-ups and patient messaging
WhatsApp, email and calls in one thread per patient, replies drafted in the patient's own language for your team to approve, a response clock on every new enquiry, and recalls a clinician approves.
A reply in the language they wrote in, approved by your team.
For the business
More enquiries answered within the hour, when they are most likely to book.
On the record
The whole conversation on one record, with response times.
05
Referrals, consent and audit trails
Recording consent taken at booking, referrals written from the visit, patient flags for controlled drugs and safeguarding notes, and every read of a record logged against a named account.
For each key question, the records wai keeps, how you produce them, and what changes for patients and the business.
Safe
wai flags risks in the record and logs every access to it.
Patient flags for controlled drugs and restricted safeguarding notes
A check before a monitored controlled drug is prescribed, and the prescription read back before it is signed
Every read and change of a record, logged against a named account
A visit that cannot end without a note going unnoticed
On request. Ask who saw a record, who changed it and when. The audit trail answers to the minute.
For patients
Flags and history carried from one visit to the next.
For the business
Incident reviews start from the audit trail, with times and names.
Effective
Each note cites the guideline behind the clinical decision.
Notes written from the consultation, cited to guidelines such as NICE
Recording consent taken at booking, and the consent discussion in the note
Referrals and letters written from the visit, signed by the clinician
Results on the record as they arrive, with a drafted bloods report
On request. Pull any consultation and its note, transcript, citations and signature appear together.
For patients
Decisions explained, with the guideline behind them.
For the business
Clinicians spend less time typing notes after clinic.
Caring
Patients get replies in their own language from a team that can see their full history.
Replies drafted in the language the patient writes in, approved by a person
Intake questions answered by voice in any language
Video consultations with live captions
The patient's history on one thread, so nobody asks twice
On request. Open any patient's thread to show what was asked, what was answered and how long the reply took.
For patients
Answers in the language they wrote in.
For the business
Review requests sent after each visit, for your team to approve.
Responsive
Patients can book at any hour, and every new enquiry is timed until someone replies.
Online booking at any hour, with real availability
A response clock on every new enquiry, and response targets in the reports
Reminders, rebooking after a missed visit, and waitlist offers
Review requests after a visit, and every complaint on the patient's thread
On request. Show how fast patients are answered, and what changed after they told you something.
For patients
A confirmation and a reminder for every appointment.
For the business
A fuller diary and fewer missed visits.
Well-led
Leaders get weekly reports on response times, the front desk and takings.
Takings, front desk, response and website reports
Named accounts and role-based access, enforced in the database
Records kept accurate, complete and contemporaneous, as Regulation 17 asks
A clinic in England has its records hosted in the United Kingdom
On request. When CQC asks how you monitor quality, show the weekly reports your leaders already read.
For patients
Records kept accurate and secure, and hosted in the United Kingdom.
For the business
Governance meetings work from the same reports every month.
What do patients and the business gain?
Published studies of faster replies, ambient scribes and appointment reminders.
7x
An enquiry answered within the hour is nearly seven times as likely to become a real conversation.6
30%
Clinicians using an ambient scribe did 30% less work after hours.7
23%
Patients sent a notification before their visit were 23% more likely to attend.8
How does wai surface CQC evidence on request?
Where each piece of evidence lives in wai, and how you produce it when CQC asks.
Asked forWhere it livesHow it is produced
Clinical notesThe patient record, beside the transcriptOpen the consultation. Note, transcript, citations, signature and time, together.
ConsentThe booking and the noteThe recording notice the patient saw at booking, and the consent discussion in the note.
Audit trailsEvery recordWho read or changed it, under which account, to the minute.
Incidents and learningThe record and its historyThe exact sequence of events, from the audit trail, for your incident review.
Policies the patient seesBooking and the patient appThe cancellation policy and the information a patient was shown before they booked.
Staff accessAccounts and rolesWho holds which role, and every action taken under it.
Patient feedbackThe patient's threadEvery message, review request and complaint, with response times.
Quality reportingReportsFront desk, response, takings and website reports, on the day they are asked for.
How do you prepare for a CQC inspection?
A CQC inspection readiness checklist, grouped by key question.
01Before the call comes
Check your registration details and contacts with CQC are current, so the assessment email reaches the right person.
Name who answers for each key question, and who holds the evidence for it.
Read the evidence categories CQC prioritises for your sector.
Keep a one-page summary of how your service runs, and what has improved this year.
02Safe
Your last three incidents, what you learned and what changed.
Safeguarding leads named, trained and known to staff.
Prescribing and medicines checks you can show, not describe.
A record of who accessed patient records, and why.
03Effective
Five consultations a reviewer could read cold, signed and dated.
How consent is taken, recorded and revisited.
The guidelines your care follows, and how you know it does.
One outcome you measure, and how it has moved.
04Caring and Responsive
How fast you answer patients, as a number.
How a patient who does not speak English is looked after.
Feedback received this quarter, and what you changed because of it.
Complaints, each acknowledged, investigated and closed, in a summary you could send within 28 days.
05Well-led
Governance meetings minuted, with actions that close.
The reports leaders read each week.
Staff who can say how they raise a concern.
Records that are accurate, complete, contemporaneous and secure.
What will a CQC inspector ask you?
Questions to expect, what to show in answer, and where wai holds the record.
01Show me what you learned from your last incident.
What to show
The sequence of events, the review, and what changed afterwards.
Where wai has it ready
The audit trail gives the exact sequence, to the minute, from the record itself.
02How do you know your records are contemporaneous?
What to show
Notes made at the time, signed, with any change visible.
Where wai has it ready
Notes are written during the visit and signed with a time, and an amended note is signed again.
03How do patients consent, and how is that recorded?
What to show
What the patient was told, when they agreed, and where it is written.
Where wai has it ready
Recording consent is taken at booking, and the consent discussion is in the signed note.
04How quickly do you respond to patients?
What to show
A number, and the threads behind it.
Where wai has it ready
Every enquiry runs on a response clock, and response times sit in the reports.
05How do you look after patients who do not speak English?
What to show
Conversations and information in the patient's own language.
Where wai has it ready
Replies are drafted in the language the patient writes in, and approved by your team.
06How do you make sure prescribing is safe?
What to show
Checks before prescribing, and a record of what was signed.
Where wai has it ready
Controlled drug flags, a check before a monitored drug is prescribed, and a read-back before signing.
07Who can see patient records, and how would you know?
What to show
Roles, access controls and an access log.
Where wai has it ready
Role-based access enforced in the database, and every read logged against a named account.
08How do leaders know how the service is performing?
What to show
The reports leaders read, and the decisions they led to.
Where wai has it ready
Front desk, response, takings and website reports, read by leaders every week.
What does a CQC rating cost, and what does preparing for one cost?
Your rating is shown publicly at every location, and outside help to prepare for an inspection is priced by the day.
Public
Every location must display its latest CQC rating on its premises and on its website, under Regulation 20A, where patients and referrers see it.9
953,000
private admissions in the UK in 2025, the fourth record year in a row.10
£2,835
is the listed price of one healthcare consultancy's two-day mock CQC inspection against all quality statements. The 10 guides below work through the same quality statements, with templates you can copy.11
The best software for a CQC inspection is the system your team already uses for booking, notes, patient messages, payments and access, so the records CQC asks for are created as the work is done. Look for contemporaneous, signed notes and a full audit trail on one patient record. wai works this way and is built to help you achieve Outstanding.
Is there CQC approved or CQC compliant software?
The Care Quality Commission registers and rates providers. It does not approve, certify or endorse software, wai included, and software cannot earn a rating on a provider's behalf. wai keeps the records your team uses to show CQC how care is delivered, and CQC decides the rating.
How do I prepare for a CQC inspection?
Know which quality statements and evidence categories CQC prioritises for your sector, name who answers for each key question, and keep the evidence where you work rather than in a folder. Then test it. Ask a colleague the questions an inspector asks, and time how long each answer takes to produce.
What evidence does CQC look at?
Six categories. People's experience, feedback from staff and leaders, feedback from partners, observation, processes and outcomes. How much weight each carries depends on your sector, and CQC publishes which it prioritises for each.
How does CQC decide an Outstanding rating?
Today each assessed quality statement is scored from 1 to 4, and a key question scoring 88% or more of its maximum is rated Outstanding, unless a statement scores 1 or 2. An overall Outstanding normally needs at least 2 key questions rated Outstanding and the rest Good.
Is the CQC single assessment framework being replaced?
CQC has proposed replacing it with sector-specific frameworks that use key lines of enquiry and rating characteristics, and no scoring. The drafts were piloted from June to October 2026, with evaluation in November. Until CQC confirms a change, the single assessment framework is the one in use.
Does wai work for hospitals and multi-site groups?
Yes. Every location runs on the same record, inbox and reports. Larger organisations usually start with one pathway, prove it on their own data, and widen it from there.
Where does wai keep our records?
A clinic in England has its records hosted in the United Kingdom, encrypted, with a full audit log. We set this up with you before go-live.
Request a demo of wai for your CQC registered service.
We show wai on your own diary, notes and inbox in a 15 minute video call. Built to help you achieve Outstanding. A clinic in England has its records hosted in the United Kingdom.
