CQC Self-Audit — Find Your Compliance Gaps Before CQC Does
The CQC Self-Audit
for UK Community Care
47 questions inspectors actually ask. Find the gaps in your documentation before CQC does. Built on 21 years of running a CQC-rated community care service.
The most common reason providers fail inspections isn't poor care
It's documentation. Inspectors weigh evidence — and the gap between providers who pass cleanly and providers who get pulled up is rarely about quality of care. It's about whether they can produce strong, consistent, regulation-mapped policy documentation when asked.
This self-audit is the same internal checklist used at Care Horizons Limited (Bristol, CQC-rated Good, trading since 2004). 47 questions across all five CQC Key Questions, plus a Quick Critical Checks section covering the gaps that appear most commonly in inspection reports.
Complete it honestly. Find your gaps. Decide what to do about them.
Download the audit now — instantly
12 pages, professionally formatted. No sign-up required to read it. Print it, work through it on screen, share it with your team.
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What's inside the audit
Section 1 — Quick Critical Checks (5)
The five gaps that appear most commonly in CQC inspection reports as immediate concerns.
Section 2 — SAFE (8)
Safeguarding, medication, IPC, risk assessment, falls prevention, lone working, sepsis.
Section 3 — EFFECTIVE (8)
Care planning, MCA, consent, induction, training, delegation, continuity, reablement.
Section 4 — CARING (6)
Dignity, accessible information, advocacy, sexuality and relationships, religion and belief.
Section 5 — RESPONSIVE (8)
Complaints, equality, end of life, advance care planning, online safety, domestic abuse.
Section 6 — WELL-LED (12)
Audit, governance, fit and proper persons, GDPR, cyber security, AI, conflict of interest.
Scoring rubric
Honest scoring guide. Tick Yes / No / Partly. Calculate your percentage per Key Question.
Gap-to-bundle mapping
Each gap links to the specific policy bundle that closes it. No generic recommendations.
Built on 21 years of operational practice
I'm Vierka Hiscock. I've been running Care Horizons Limited — a CQC-rated Good community care service in Bristol — since 2004. Over those 21 years I've written and rewritten the policy library through every regulatory change the sector has been through.
This audit is the same internal checklist I use to test our own readiness. The bundles it maps to are the same library, generalised for white-label use and made available to other UK community care providers as a one-time purchase rather than a perpetual subscription.
CQC-rated Good · ISO 9001 · ISO 45001
Care Franchising Limited · Companies House 16271445 · ICO ZB959091
Common questions
Is this really free?
Yes. We do not charge for the audit, we do not require a credit card, and we do not automatically opt you into any paid service.
How long does it take to complete?
Around 15 minutes for an experienced registered manager. Longer if you need to check whether each policy actually exists — which is, of course, the point of the audit.
Is this aligned with the new CQC Single Assessment Framework?
Yes. The audit is structured around the five CQC Key Questions (Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, Well-Led) used in the 2024 Single Assessment Framework.
Does it work for my service type?
The audit is built for community care providers — domiciliary, live-in, extra care, supported living, outreach, day services, and Personal Assistant frameworks. It is not tailored to residential care homes or hospital settings.
What if I find lots of gaps?
You will. Every provider does — usually between 12 and 22. The regulatory landscape moves fast. The audit ends with a gap-to-bundle mapping table showing which Care Franchising Compliance bundle addresses each gap.
Can I share it with colleagues?
Please do. The PDF is licensed for free internal use within any UK organisation. It cannot be resold or redistributed commercially.