Care Quality Commission - Registration of Care Providers

Registration of Care Providers

All health and adult social care providers that come within the future scope of registration are required to register with the Care Quality Commission. In order to be granted registration, care providers need to demonstrate that they can meet, or are already meeting, the registration requirements. To maintain their registration they need to demonstrate an ongoing ability to meet the requirements.

A registration system for social care and independent health providers already exists under the Care Standards Act 2000, but there is no such system for the NHS. The new registration system will incorporate providers from all sectors into a single system. (For NHS trusts, the registration criteria will thus replace Standards for Better Health.) In developing the new registration system and its requirements both the Government and the Care Quality Commission will build on the experience of the current commissions and service providers in operating under the existing system and against the current standards.

The Department of Health ran a consultation on which health and adult social care services should require registration with the Care Quality Commission; and what the requirements for registration should be. The consultation closed on 17 June 2008.

In 2010 the Care Quality Commission required that all care providers re-registered their services - an unpopular move with many care providers who saw their current inspection rating as being under threat - and the regulator is expected to report back in April 2011 on a new system of regulation.