Home care audit tool: all 34 quality statements, for domiciliary and live-in care agencies
A self-audit framework for home care agencies, structured the way CQC assesses you: the five key questions, every quality statement under them, and the fundamental standard each one relates to. Browse all 34 below, or request a copy tailored to your agency and we'll send a scoped working template.
There is no official CQC audit tool. CQC publishes the assessment framework and the regulations. It does not publish a checklist of what evidences each quality statement.
We wrote these checks from the guidance home care agencies work to, including NICE's guidelines on home care and on medicines support in the community, then checked every standard they name against its source. The quality statements and regulation titles are CQC's, quoted accurately. The "what to check" column is ours. Use it as a prompt for your own audit.
The quality statements are CQC's, from the assessment framework. The regulation titles are from the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You'll find the other standards the checks name under Sources, below the tables.
Last reviewed: 7 October 2026.
Nothing on this page is regulatory advice: see the terms of use. For a working copy you can fill in, request one tailored to your agency below.
Not a home care agency? Use the care home audit tool, the supported living audit tool or the dental inspection checklist. Or browse every free CQC tool.
Safe 8 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Learning culture | Trace one missed or late visit from the first report to what changed. Can you show the change reached the rota, the carers and the person? | Reg 17Good governance |
| Safe systems, pathways and transitions | Take the last hospital discharge back home. Did visits restart on time, and did you update the care plan and medicines from the discharge information? | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
| Safeguarding | Do you log every concern, refer it to the local authority where required and notify CQC? Check carers record every cash transaction for shopping or bills, with receipts. | Reg 13Safeguarding from abuse |
| Involving people to manage risks | Does each person's risk assessment cover their home, such as access, falls, fire and the equipment they use? Check it records the risks the person chooses to take. | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
| Safe environments | Does each home have a current risk assessment for the care you give there, and do you service the equipment you supply (Reg 15)? The home sits outside CQC's regulation, so check carers report the hazards they find. | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
| Safe and effective staffing | Does the rota include travel time, and does each visit last as long as the person's assessed need? Check visits under half an hour meet NICE's conditions, and new carers complete the Care Certificate and Oliver McGowan training. | Reg 18Staffing |
| Infection prevention and control | Do carers have the gloves, aprons and hand hygiene supplies they need for every visit? Check you audit infection control practice in people's homes and close the findings. | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
| Medicines optimisation | Does each care plan record the level of medicines support the person needs, and do carers give only that support? Check MAR records match what carers gave, and that nobody leaves doses out unless a risk assessment and the care plan allow it. | Reg 12Safe care and treatment |
Effective 6 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Assessing needs | Did you assess each person before their first visit, and reassess when their needs changed, such as after a fall or a hospital stay? | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Delivering evidence-based care and treatment | Can carers name the guidance behind a person's care, such as their moving and handling plan, catheter care instructions or a district nurse's directions? | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| How staff, teams and services work together | Can you show how you share information with the GP, district nurses, pharmacy and family, and what you changed because of it? | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Supporting people to live healthier lives | Do carers support people to eat, drink and keep active, and do they record and report changes such as weight loss or new confusion? | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Monitoring and improving outcomes | Which outcomes do you track, such as missed and late visits, falls, medication errors and hospital admissions? Show the trend over time. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Consent to care and treatment | Do you record decision-specific capacity assessments and best interests decisions? DoLS covers care homes and hospitals, so a deprivation of liberty in someone's own home needs a Court of Protection order. Review each case against the Supreme Court's June 2026 test. | Reg 11Need for consent |
Caring 5 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Kindness, compassion and dignity | With the person's agreement, observe a visit. Note how carers greet the person, whether they ask before helping, and how they treat the person's home. | Reg 10Dignity and respect |
| Treating people as individuals | Does the care plan say how this person likes their care done, in their own words, including the routines that matter to them at each visit? | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Independence, choice and control | Do carers support people to do what they can for themselves? Check the plan records what the person chooses to do without help. | Reg 10Dignity and respect |
| Responding to people's immediate needs | What happens when a carer finds someone unwell or on the floor? Check carers know the procedure and the records show what they did. | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Workforce wellbeing and enablement | Do carers get regular supervision, and does your lone working procedure cover keeping in touch with carers between visits, as HSE guidance sets out? Note: this moves to Well-led under the draft 2026 frameworks. | Reg 18Staffing |
Responsive 7 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Person-centred care | Did you write each care plan with the person, including what each visit should cover, and review it with them? Note: this moves to Caring under the draft 2026 frameworks. | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Care provision, integration, and continuity | Does each person see a consistent team of carers? Check you tell people in advance when a carer changes, and why, as NICE's home care guideline recommends. | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Providing information | Do people know who is coming and when, in a format they can use? Check you record and flag communication needs in line with the Accessible Information Standard (DAPB1605). | Reg 9Person-centred care |
| Listening to and involving people | Can each person raise a concern easily, including about a specific carer? Check the complaints log includes the issues office staff sorted out by phone. | Reg 16Receiving and acting on complaints |
| Equity in access | Have you turned down or ended a care package? Check you recorded the reason and that it stands up. | Reg 10Dignity and respect |
| Equity in experiences and outcomes | Record people's protected characteristics, then compare outcomes such as missed visits, complaints and hospital admissions across groups. | Reg 10Dignity and respect |
| Planning for the future | Does each person have a plan for a late or missed visit, including who comes instead? Check care plans also cover advance wishes and end of life care where relevant. | Reg 9Person-centred care |
Well-led 8 quality statements
| Quality statement | What to check | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Shared direction and culture | Ask three carers what a good visit looks like. Specific answers that match are your evidence. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders | Can carers in the field reach the registered manager or on-call cover at any time? Check the on-call rota, and that you notify CQC of any manager absence of 28 days or more. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Freedom to speak up | Do carers who work alone know how to raise a concern outside their own coordinator? Show what happened the last time someone did. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion | Is each carer's file complete against Schedule 3, with an enhanced DBS check that includes the adults' barred list? Check you record and make reasonable adjustments for carers who need them. | Reg 19Fit and proper persons employed |
| Governance, management and sustainability | Do you audit care records, MAR charts and visit times on a schedule, and track each finding to closure with an owner and a date? | Reg 17Good governance |
| Partnerships and communities | Show how you work with commissioners, district nurses, GPs and families, and what you changed because of what they said. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Learning, improvement and innovation | Name one change you made in the last quarter because of a missed visit, complaint or audit finding, and show it worked. | Reg 17Good governance |
| Environmental sustainability – sustainable development | CQC still assesses this today and left it out of the draft adult social care framework, so it's likely to fall away. | Reg 17Good governance |
Two of these move under the draft 2026 frameworks. Person-centred care moves from Responsive into Caring, and workforce wellbeing moves from Caring into Well-led. Home care sits in the adult social care framework, and our free CQC framework crosswalk maps all 34 statements to what replaces them.
Two things work differently in home care
Treat every missed or late visit as a safety event.
NICE's home care guideline asks agencies to monitor missed and late visits closely and act quickly, because people who live alone or lack capacity carry the most risk. Each person should have a plan for a late or missed visit, including who comes instead.
DoLS covers care homes and hospitals only.
In someone's own home, a deprivation of liberty needs a Court of Protection order. On 2 June 2026 the Supreme Court changed the test for what counts as a deprivation of liberty, and the same test applies to Court of Protection cases, so review each person's arrangements against it and watch for the government's interim guidance.
Sources for the standards the checks name
- NICE: NG21: Home care: delivering personal care and practical support to older people living in their own homes
- NICE: NG67: Managing medicines for adults receiving social care in the community
- CQC: Personal care: scope of the regulated activity
- legislation.gov.uk: Regulation 15, Regulated Activities Regulations 2014
- legislation.gov.uk: Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009
- HSE: Protecting lone workers: how to manage the risks of working alone
- Skills for Care: The Care Certificate
- GOV.UK: Oliver McGowan code of practice
- SCIE: Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards at a glance
- GOV.UK: UK Supreme Court 2026 judgment on what constitutes a deprivation of liberty
- NHS England: Accessible Information Standard (DAPB1605)
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Common questions
What does CQC look at in home care?
CQC regulates the personal care you give in people's own homes. Inspectors use the same five key questions as for every other service, and look at how you plan and deliver visits, how you keep people safe at home, and how you support carers who work alone.
How long should a home care visit be?
As long as the person's assessed need. NICE's home care guideline says visits under half an hour should only happen when the carer is known to the person, the visit is part of a wider package of support, and it leaves enough time for specific tasks or a check that the person is safe and well.
Does DoLS apply in people's own homes?
No. The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards cover care homes and hospitals. In someone's own home, a deprivation of liberty needs a Court of Protection order. The Supreme Court changed the test for what counts as a deprivation of liberty on 2 June 2026, so review each person's arrangements against it.
Does this tool work for live-in care?
Yes. Live-in care is personal care in the person's own home, so the same 34 quality statements apply. The checks shift: visit timings matter less, and handovers between live-in carers matter more. Request a copy and we'll scope it to live-in care.
How often should a home care agency audit?
There is no single legally required frequency. Regulation 17 requires systems to assess, monitor and improve quality. For a home care agency that usually means scheduled checks of care records, MAR charts and visit times, with an owner and a closure date for each finding.
Or keep your agency inspection-ready all year
CompliantCare schedules this audit for your agency and assigns each finding to a named owner with a due date. Inspection Readiness updates live from your policies, audits, training, incidents and risk register, and one click produces the inspection pack when CQC calls.