As part of the inspection, the inspection team will visit your main office location. They may meet with the registered manager or nominated representative, talk with staff and examine systems, documents and records.
For announced inspections, the lead inspector will contact you in advance to make any necessary logistical arrangements and to ensure that you are prepared for the visit. We will usually complete the onsite part of the inspection in one day. However, we may need longer for more complex services or if significant issues arise on the day.
Part of the inspection will involve interviewing one or more clinicians. If the clinicians are not office-based, the interviews will be by telephone or video link.
At the start of the site visit, the inspection team will meet with your registered manager, if there is one, and/or the nominated representative. This introductory session will take no longer than 30 minutes. It will introduce the inspection team and explain:
- the scope and purpose of the inspection including CQC’s regulatory powers
- the plan for the day
- how we will escalate any concerns that we identify during the inspection
- how we will communicate our findings.
You will have an opportunity to tell the inspection team about:
- your service, including the context in which you operate
- examples of outstanding care and practice
- concerns that you have identified about your ability to meet the regulations and what you are doing about it
If we find that you have not been open with us about issues of concern that you already know about, we will reflect this when we assess the well-led key question.
Feedback on the visit
At the end of the inspection visit, the inspector will provide summary feedback. This is overall initial feedback only, illustrated with some examples. We will usually:
- explaining our findings to date, including any issues that we escalated during the visit or that need immediate action
- tell you if we need additional evidence or if we need to seek further specialist advice to make a judgement
- explain any plans for follow-up or additional visits (unless they will be unannounced)
- explain how we make our assessment against the regulations
- explain the next steps, and how we process the draft inspection report
- answer your questions about the process
We will analyse the evidence further before we can reach final judgements on all the issues and award ratings.