What happens if you fail your CQC inspection – and how do you avoid that?

15 May 2025

The CQC inspection is a necessary but dreaded process to ensure people are protected in your medical and dental practice or care home. But what happens if you fail – and how can you make sure that doesn’t happen to you?

For the Elmhurst Care Home in Bradford, an inspection in December was a disaster. The CQC rated the home, which cares for adults with dementia, inadequate – its lowest rating – and placed it into special measures.

That means Elmhurst will be kept under stringent review, and it will be monitored to check sufficient improvements have been made. 

CQC issued warning notices following the inspection to focus the owners’ attention on making significant improvements around safe care, and how they were managing the service.

“When we inspected Elmhurst, we found leaders had not implemented good processes and weren’t supporting staff, which led to people being placed at risk of unsafe care. We found a closed culture, poor morale and a clear divide between care staff and management which led to the breakdown of effective teamwork,” the CQC says – you can read the full report here.

So might it happen to you?

We’re sure it won’t – but our Bison CQC experts are here to help you make sure, and to take away the strain of complying with all the latest regulations.

What happens at a CQC inspection?

CQC checks your practice at least once every three years (within six months of opening if you are running a care home), and can come unannounced as well as on scheduled visits. 

It checks that the practice or home you are running is 

  • Safe
  • Effective
  • Caring
  • Responsive
  • Well-led.

As part of the CQC inspection, a risk assessment is completed so inspectors can see that you are providing safe and effective care via well-led policies and procedures. If you want an excellent inspection rating, it’s essential to identify any hazards and mitigate risks. 

The inspection covers a number of potential risks to your staff and clients, ranging from health & safety, fire hazard, disability access and Legionella.

What can you do to get ready?

Maintaining compliance and spotting potential hazards in all of these areas is a big challenge to a busy practice or home with daily business to run. So Bison Assist’s CQC Compliance Package is used by care providers all over the country who want to be prepared and organised for inspections.

Bison CEO Chris Hickman says: “It’s a big ask for busy people to keep up with regulatory changes, so our Bison experts do it for you. They carry out all the necessary risk assessments and prepare a report for your CQC inspection that includes an Action Plan.

“We help you to understand the actions you need to take and implement them. This is important, because it’s a legal responsibility as well as the only way to make sure you keep everyone using your premises safe.

“You may be able to carry out some of the actions in-house by a member of your team, while others need to be achieved by specialists with the relevant qualifications, skills and competence. Whichever way, our risk assessment professionals are on hand with all the help and advice you need.”

The Bradford care home now faces a long process to improve its health and safety standards, and to restore its reputation.

Chris says: “Make sure it isn’t you putting people at risk and endangering your business. 

“We’ve created a multi-service discount to make our services as cost-effective as possible for you. And as your trusted partner in safety, we’ll help and guide you on every step of your path to CQC compliance and excellence.”

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