How Often Are Care Homes Inspected
When you’re entrusting someone you love to a care home, you want to know they’re being held to account. That’s where the Care Quality Commission comes in – England’s independent regulator, responsible for inspecting around 10,600 care homes across the country.

But not all care homes are inspected on the same schedule. Some might go five years between visits, while others see inspectors multiple times a year. Understanding this system is crucial when you’re researching care options, because inspection frequency reveals important information about how a home is performing.

This article will give you the facts you actually need when choosing a care home.

How Often Are Care Homes Inspected?

It depends entirely on their rating. Care homes rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ typically face inspections every 2 to 5 years, while those rated ‘Requires Improvement’ can expect a CQC inspection within 12 months.

Homes rated ‘Inadequate’? They’re looking at a follow-up inspection within just six months.

It’s important to note that the CQC’s inspection doesn’t follow a set routine as they prioritise risk, ensuring a care home is safe to operate.

CQC Care Home Inspection Cycles

CQC inspections aren’t booked in on a universal timetable. In fact, the timing is based on what the CQC already knows about a service, things like the last rating, what ongoing information is coming in and whether anything suggests standards could be drifting.

For new care homes, the first inspection is usually within 12 months of registration, so the CQC can see how care is working in real life and give an initial rating.

After that, the gap between inspections tends to reflect how much oversight the service needs:

  • Homes rated Outstanding can go several years between full inspections when the evidence remains reassuring.
  • A Good rating often comes with a longer window too, although the CQC can still bring a visit forward if it needs to.
  • Where a home is rated Requires Improvement, a follow-up is commonly expected around the one-year mark to check progress.
  • With an Inadequate rating, re-inspections are usually sooner, often within months, because safety and standards need to improve quickly.

Surprise CQC Visits

Even an Outstanding-rated home can find inspectors at the door if certain red flags appear.

Focused inspections can be triggered by complaints from residents or families, whistleblowing reports from staff, multiple safeguarding notifications (which providers are legally required to submit) or significant changes like new management or ownership.

The CQC also conducts ongoing monitoring between inspections, analysing data on complaints, incidents and statutory notifications to identify potential problems early.

What Actually Happens During a CQC Inspection

When the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspects a care home, it’s about seeing care in action and gathering real-world evidence of how people are being supported. Inspectors generally visit without much notice, so homes aren’t able to stage the day. Most inspections involve observing daily routines, speaking with residents and staff, reviewing records and checking that care plans reflect the support people actually receive.

During the visit, the CQC uses its five core quality questions as the basis for what it looks at:

whether care is safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led. These areas form the backbone of the assessment and the judgements that follow.

Inspectors typically spend a few hours to a couple of days on site, depending on the size and complexity of the home being inspected. They will:

  • Talk with the residents living at the home and their families, if appropriate
  • Speak to care staff and managers about how care is delivered
  • Observe interactions and routines
  • Review care plans, risk assessments and other documentation
  • Look at aspects of the building and environment related to residents’ safety and comfort

After the on-site visit, the CQC writes a draft report and sends it to the registered provider. The home then has 10 working days to check this draft for factual accuracy and raise any concerns with CQC before it is finalised.

Once the factual accuracy check has finished and any agreed changes are made, the final report is published on the CQC website. There isn’t a strict statutory deadline for publication in every case, but inspections normally lead to a report being available online within a few weeks of the visit becoming finalised, and homes are expected to share their rating and report with the public and on their own website.

What This Means When You’re Choosing a Care Home

So, how often are care homes inspected by the Care Quality Commission? For most
Good-rated homes it’s every two to five years, but that’s just the basic standard. The actual frequency depends on performance, complaints, incidents and the CQC’s ongoing monitoring activities.

If you’re choosing a care home, check the CQC rating, but also read the full inspection report, visit in person and ask questions about recent incidents or changes. The inspection frequency tells you something about the home’s track record – but your own research will tell you whether it’s the right fit for your loved one.

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