Which policies and documents does CQC expect, and how do you keep them current?

CQC asks every new provider for eleven documents, including a statement of purpose and policies on complaints, consent, safeguarding, infection control, medicines and recruitment, and the regulations require records such as contemporaneous clinical notes. Keep each policy current by checking it against what your service actually does, at least once a year and after any change in law or guidance.

The documents CQC asks every provider for

When you apply to register, CQC asks every provider applicant for the following, and rejects applications that are incomplete or out of date.¹

1. Building control final certificate, where a location needs building regulations approval
2. Complaints policy
3. Consent policy and procedure
4. Equality, diversity and human rights policy
5. Governance and quality assurance policies
6. Infection prevention and control policy
7. Medicines management and prescribing policy
8. Public and employer liability insurance quote or certificate
9. Recruitment policy
10. Safeguarding policy and procedure
11. Statement of purpose

Applicants also send a financial viability statement unless they are, for example, a corporate provider or an NHS trust, and some services need extra documents.¹ These are the floor. Registered providers are judged on how the policies work in practice.

The records the regulations require

Each of these comes from CQC's guidance on the regulations.²³⁴⁵ Note the two 28-day duties. If CQC asks, you have four weeks to send a governance report and a complaints summary, so both should already exist.

How to keep CQC policies current

1. Give each policy one owner. A named person, not a role, who answers for it.
2. Set a review date by risk. Annually at least, sooner for safeguarding, medicines and infection control, and immediately after any law or guidance change.
3. Test it against practice. Pick three recent cases and check the policy describes what actually happened. If not, change the policy or the practice.
4. Make it reachable. Staff should find any policy in under a minute, and be able to say what it means for them.
5. Record each review. Record the date, the reviewer, what changed and why, so you can show CQC how policies are governed.

1. Policy ______ Owner ______
2. Last reviewed ______ Next review ______
3. Regulation it supports ______
4. Checked against practice on ______ using cases ______
5. What changed at the last review ______

Copy template

Keeping the statement of purpose current

Your statement of purpose tells CQC what you do, for whom and where. Keep it current and notify CQC when it changes.⁶ An inspector will compare it with what they see, so the services you deliver and the people you serve should match it exactly.

Questions

Does CQC provide policy templates?

CQC sets out what each required document must include in its registration guidance, rather than providing a template to copy.

How often should policies be reviewed?

Set a date by risk, at least once a year, and review sooner when law, guidance or your service changes. Record every review.

What is the 28-day rule?

When CQC asks, you must send a written governance report under Regulation 17(3), or a summary of complaints under Regulation 16, within 28 days.

Sources

1. 1CQC, 2026Supporting documents, documents everyone must sendRead source
2. 2CQC, 2025Regulation 17, Good governanceRead source
3. 3CQC, 2025Regulation 16, Receiving and acting on complaintsRead source
4. 4CQC, 2025Regulation 11, Need for consentRead source
5. 5CQC, 2025Regulation 20, Duty of candourRead source
6. 6CQC, 2026NotificationsRead source

Written by the wai team from Care Quality Commission guidance, checked on 15 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. CQC does not endorse wai or any software.