CQC Glossary: Regulatory Terms and Jargon Explained
Straight, accurate definitions for the terms that come up constantly in CQC guidance, inspection reports, and everyday compliance work — from the well-known (KLOE, quality statements) to the rarely-explained (Section 42, Notice of Proposal, specific regulation numbers). Bookmark this page and jump straight to the term you need.
Jump to a term
- KLOE
- Rating Characteristics
- Quality Statement
- Key Question
- Fundamental Standards
- Single Assessment Framework
- RAG Rating
- Registered Manager
- Registered Provider
- Nominated Individual
- Statement of Purpose
- Location ID
- Notice of Proposal
- Notice of Decision
- Warning Notice
- Special Measures
- Section 42 Enquiry
- Regulation 12
- Regulation 13
- Regulation 17
- Regulation 18
- Regulation 20 (Duty of Candour)
- DoLS
- Liberty Protection Safeguards
- Mental Capacity Act
- Best Interest Decision
- Notifiable Event
- Care Certificate
- PIR
- Evidence Category
- Residential Care Home
- Nursing Home
- Supported Living
- MAR Chart
- Controlled Drugs
- End of Life Care
- Care Act 2014
- Falls Prevention
- Confidentiality
- Equality and Diversity
Ratings & Assessment
KLOE (Key Line of Enquiry)
The set of specific questions CQC inspectors historically used within each of the five key questions to structure how they gathered evidence. Under the Single Assessment Framework, KLOEs were replaced by quality statements, though the term is still widely used in the sector. CQC has said it will bring key lines of enquiry back in place of quality statements under its new sector-specific frameworks, which are still in draft.
Rating Characteristics
Descriptions of what care looks like at each of CQC’s four rating levels: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement and Inadequate. CQC used them before 2024 and has said it will re-introduce them under its new sector-specific frameworks, where they replace scoring as the reference point for rating judgements. See CQC’s new assessment framework for 2026.
Quality Statement
Under CQC’s Single Assessment Framework, a quality statement is a specific commitment a provider is expected to demonstrate within one of the five key questions. Quality statements replaced the older KLOE structure and are the current basis for how evidence is organised and scored. CQC has said it will replace them with key lines of enquiry once its new frameworks are implemented.
Key Question
One of the five domains CQC rates every service against: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, and Well-led. Each key question receives its own score and rating, which combine to produce the overall rating for the service.
Fundamental Standards
The baseline standards set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 that every registered provider must meet. Failing to meet a fundamental standard is a breach of regulation, and some breaches can result in prosecution.
Single Assessment Framework (SAF)
CQC’s current approach to assessment, introduced to replace the previous comprehensive inspection model with a more continuous, evidence-based process built around quality statements and evidence categories rather than scheduled full inspections alone. CQC is developing sector-specific frameworks to replace it but has not confirmed a go-live date.
RAG Rating (Red/Amber/Green)
A Red/Amber/Green status used internally by many providers and consultants to flag risk or compliance status against a specific standard or action. It is a common governance and audit tool rather than a term CQC itself uses in published ratings.
Registration & Roles
Registered Manager
The individual registered with CQC as responsible for the day-to-day management of a regulated activity at a specific location. The registered manager carries personal legal accountability for compliance, separate from the registered provider.
Registered Provider
The organisation or individual legally registered with CQC to carry on a regulated activity. A single provider can operate multiple registered locations, each typically with its own registered manager.
Nominated Individual
For organisations registered as providers, the nominated individual is the person who supervises the management of the regulated activity on the provider’s behalf and is the main point of contact with CQC for that responsibility.
Statement of Purpose
A legally required document, submitted at registration and kept current, describing the aims, objectives, and scope of the regulated activity a service provides. It is one of the specific documents CQC checks is accurate and up to date. See our full guide to writing one.
Location ID
The unique reference number CQC assigns to each registered location, used to identify that specific service in CQC’s register, inspection reports, and notifications, distinct from the provider’s own registration ID. See our full guide to finding it.
Enforcement & Legal
Notice of Proposal
A formal notice CQC issues setting out its intention to take a specific regulatory action, such as cancelling registration or imposing a condition, before the decision is finalised. Providers have a right to make written representations in response before a Notice of Decision is issued.
Notice of Decision
The formal notice confirming CQC’s final decision after a Notice of Proposal and any representations from the provider have been considered. It confirms the regulatory action CQC will take and the provider’s right of appeal.
Warning Notice
A formal notice issued when CQC finds a provider is failing to meet a regulatory requirement, setting out what must improve and the deadline for doing so. Failing to comply with a Warning Notice can lead to further, more serious enforcement action. See our full guide to responding to one.
Special Measures
A framework CQC applies to the most seriously failing services, involving closer regulatory oversight and a defined timescale for improvement. Services in special measures that don’t improve sufficiently within that timescale can face cancellation of registration. See our full guide to special measures.
Section 42 Enquiry
Under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014, a local authority must make enquiries when it has reasonable cause to suspect an adult with care and support needs is at risk of abuse or neglect. A Section 42 enquiry is the formal safeguarding investigation process this duty triggers, distinct from CQC’s own regulatory role. See our safeguarding log template.
Key Regulations
Regulation 12 (Safe Care and Treatment)
The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requirement that care and treatment must be provided safely, covering areas including risk assessment, medicines management, and infection control.
Regulation 13 (Safeguarding)
The regulation requiring providers to protect people from abuse and improper treatment, including having systems in place to identify, respond to, and prevent abuse or neglect.
Regulation 17 (Good Governance)
The regulation requiring providers to have effective systems to assess, monitor, and improve the quality and safety of services, and to maintain accurate, complete records. Weak governance under Regulation 17 is one of the most commonly cited findings behind Inadequate and Requires Improvement ratings. See our governance meeting template.
Regulation 18 (Staffing / Notification of Other Incidents)
Regulation 18 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 requires providers to notify CQC of incidents affecting the health, safety or welfare of people using the service. A separate Regulation 18 under the 2014 Regulations covers sufficient, appropriately qualified staffing.
Regulation 20 (Duty of Candour)
The regulation requiring providers to be open and transparent with people using their service when a notifiable safety incident occurs — informing them promptly, providing an explanation, and apologising, with all of this recorded.
Mental Capacity & Safeguarding
DoLS (Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards)
The legal framework under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 that authorises depriving a person who lacks capacity of their liberty in a care home or hospital, where it is necessary and in their best interests, subject to formal assessment and authorisation. See our DoLS tracker template.
Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS)
The framework intended to replace DoLS, extending deprivation of liberty authorisation to a wider range of settings including domiciliary care and supported living. Implementation has been repeatedly delayed, so DoLS remains the operative framework for most providers.
Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005
The legislation setting out how decisions must be made for people who may lack the capacity to make a specific decision themselves, built around five statutory principles including the presumption of capacity and the requirement to act in the person’s best interests. See our full practice guide.
Best Interest Decision
A decision made on behalf of someone who has been assessed as lacking capacity for a specific decision, made in line with the Mental Capacity Act’s best interest checklist, considering the person’s wishes, feelings, and views of those close to them.
Notifications & Documentation
Notifiable Event
An event, incident, or change that a registered provider is legally required to report to CQC within a specified timeframe, covering categories including deaths, serious injuries, safeguarding allegations, and changes to registered details. See our full list and tracker guide.
Care Certificate
A set of 15 standards that form the minimum induction requirements for new care workers in health and social care, covering areas such as safeguarding, communication, and person-centred care.
PIR (Provider Information Return)
An annual online return that CQC asks registered adult social care providers to complete, giving current information about the service, changes made and how it is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. CQC says it is required by law under Regulation 17(3), and the registered manager receives a link with a 4-week deadline. See our PIR guide.
Evidence Category
Under the Single Assessment Framework, the specific types of evidence (such as people’s experience, feedback from staff, or observation) CQC considers when assessing each quality statement (CQC scores at quality statement level only), replacing the broader evidence-gathering approach used under the old KLOE model.
Care Services & Everyday Practice
Residential Care Home
A care home that provides accommodation together with personal care, but without a qualified nurse on duty to provide nursing care. CQC registers it for the regulated activity Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, where accommodation and care are a single package. See our guide to residential care homes.
Nursing Home (Care Home With Nursing)
A care home that provides accommodation, personal care and nursing care, with a qualified nurse always on duty. CQC registers it for Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care and, where employed nurses carry out treatment, is likely to also require Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. See what a nursing home is.
Supported Living
Suitable accommodation, which can be their own home, with personal care and support provided separately. CQC regulates the personal care, under the regulated activity Personal care, not the housing, and there must be a real separation between the care and the accommodation agreement. See how supported living is regulated.
MAR Chart (Medication Administration Record)
The record in which care staff note every medicine they give, prompt or support a person to take, including refusals and omissions. NICE says medicines support must be recorded for each medicine on every occasion, ideally on a printed MAR from the supplying pharmacy. See our MAR chart guide.
Controlled Drugs
Medicines controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and sorted into five schedules. In care homes, Schedule 2 controlled drugs must be stored in a controlled drugs cupboard and recorded in a controlled drugs register, and homes without nursing cannot hold stock. See our controlled drugs guide.
End of Life Care
Support for people in the last months or years of life, to help them live as well as possible until they die and to die with dignity. The NHS says people are approaching the end of life when they are likely to die within 12 months. See our end of life care guide.
Care Act 2014
The law that sets out how adult social care in England is provided, placing duties on local authorities to promote wellbeing, assess needs and make safeguarding enquiries. It does not regulate providers directly; CQC does that under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. See the Care Act explained for providers.
Falls Prevention
Identifying why each person might fall and acting on those reasons. NICE guideline NG249 (2025) recommends a comprehensive falls assessment and management in residential care, and recommends not using falls risk prediction tools. See falls prevention in care homes.
Confidentiality
Protecting personal information people share with you and using or sharing it only in ways they expect, with consent, or where the law or safety requires it. The eight Caldicott principles guide how health and social care services use confidential information. See our confidentiality guide.
Equality and Diversity
Treating people fairly and recognising their differences. The Equality Act 2010 protects nine characteristics, and CQC Regulation 10 requires providers to have due regard to protected characteristics and not to discriminate, harass or victimise people. See equality and diversity in care.
Track every regulation against your own evidence
CQCLogic’s Regulations Library is a searchable index of every Health and Social Care Act 2008 regulation, organised by domain, with a direct line from each one to how CQC actually inspects it — so jargon like this glossary never has to be memorised, just looked up when you need it. See the full feature or view a sample plan.