Understanding CQC's Quality Statements: What They Actually Mean

When the CQC introduced the Single Assessment Framework, one of the biggest changes was the shift from Key Lines of Enquiry to quality statements. If you have read through them and found yourself wondering what they actually expect from you in practice, you are not alone. Many care providers find the language abstract and struggle to connect these statements to their day-to-day operations.

This guide translates quality statements into plain English and shows you how to demonstrate compliance in ways inspectors actually recognise.

What Quality Statements Are and Why They Replaced KLOEs

Under the old system, CQC used over 300 Key Lines of Enquiry and prompts to assess care services. These were detailed and prescriptive, which had benefits, but also created a tick-box mentality where providers focused on process documentation rather than actual outcomes for people receiving care.

Quality statements take a different approach. There are 34 of them, and each one is a clear declaration of what good care looks like. They are written as “we statements” from the provider’s perspective. For example: “We work with people to understand what being safe means to them and to understand and manage risks.”

The shift is deliberate. Rather than telling you exactly what documents to have and what boxes to tick, quality statements describe the outcomes people should experience. Your job is to demonstrate that people receiving your care are actually experiencing those outcomes.

This approach gives providers more flexibility in how they deliver care, but it also requires a deeper understanding of what good looks like beyond paperwork.

The Five Key Questions Remain

Quality statements sit underneath the same five key questions that have guided CQC assessments for years:

Safe: People are protected from abuse and avoidable harm. Quality statements here cover topics like safeguarding, infection control, medicine management, staffing levels, and involving people in understanding and managing risks.

Effective: Care achieves good outcomes and is based on evidence. Statements cover consent, assessing needs, care planning, nutrition, staff competence, and working with other services.

Caring: Staff treat people with compassion and respect their dignity. This includes privacy, independence, and treating people as individuals.

Responsive: Services meet people’s needs. Quality statements address person-centred care, supporting communication, and handling complaints.

Well-led: Leadership delivers high-quality care and promotes learning and improvement. This covers governance, partnerships, workforce management, and organisational culture.

Each key question has multiple quality statements beneath it. When you are assessed, inspectors gather evidence against these statements to form their judgement for each key question.

How Quality Statements Link to Evidence Categories

Understanding what evidence CQC wants is just as important as understanding the statements themselves. The framework defines six categories of evidence:

People’s experience: Direct feedback from those receiving care and their families. This carries the most weight. Inspectors want to hear from people about what their care is actually like.

Feedback from staff and leaders: What your team says about working conditions, culture, and how care is delivered.

Feedback from partners: Input from other organisations involved in care, like GPs, local authorities, or other health professionals.

Observation: What inspectors see when they visit. Are staff interactions respectful? Is the environment safe and welcoming?

Processes: Your policies, procedures, care plans, and documentation. This category still matters, but it is not the primary focus.

Outcomes: Data and evidence showing the results of your care. Are people’s health needs being met? Are incidents reducing? Are goals being achieved?

The balance here is significant. Evidence of processes (the paperwork) is only one of six categories. If your compliance strategy relies heavily on having the right documents, you are missing the bigger picture.

What “We Expect” vs “We May Also” Means

When you read the detail behind each quality statement, you will notice two types of indicators: things CQC expects to see, and things they may also look for.

The “we expect” indicators are the baseline. These are the practices and outcomes that any service should be able to demonstrate. If you cannot show evidence against these indicators, you are likely to fall short of a “Good” rating.

The “we may also” indicators go further. These represent practices that distinguish good services from outstanding ones, or that apply in specific circumstances. Not every indicator will be relevant to every service, and CQC applies professional judgement about which ones to explore.

In practical terms, focus first on ensuring you can demonstrate the “we expect” indicators confidently. Once those are solid, look at the “we may also” indicators to identify opportunities for strengthening your service further.

How to Self-Assess Against Quality Statements

Self-assessment is one of the most effective ways to prepare for CQC assessment. Here is a practical approach:

Start with one key question at a time

Do not try to assess everything at once. Pick one key question (for example, “Safe”) and work through each quality statement beneath it.

Gather evidence across all six categories

For each statement, ask yourself: what evidence do we have in each category? If all your evidence is documentation (processes), you have a gap. Think about how you could gather feedback from people using your service, how you track outcomes, and what partners might say about you.

Use the “I statements” as a test

Each quality statement has a corresponding “I statement” written from the perspective of someone receiving care. For example, “I feel safe and am supported to understand and manage any risks.” Talk to people using your service and ask whether they would agree with that statement. Their answer tells you more than any audit.

Be honest about gaps

The purpose of self-assessment is to identify where you need to improve, not to convince yourself everything is fine. If you find areas where evidence is weak or outcomes are inconsistent, those become your priorities.

Our mock inspection service provides an external perspective on your readiness, using experienced assessors who know what CQC is looking for.

Common Misunderstandings About Quality Statements

“We need a document for each quality statement.” Not quite. You need evidence that you are achieving the outcomes described. Sometimes that evidence is a document, but often it is feedback from people, observable practice, or outcome data. Do not create paperwork for its own sake.

“Quality statements replaced everything, so KLOEs do not matter.” The underlying expectations have not changed dramatically. If you were meeting KLOEs, you are likely meeting most quality statement expectations. The main difference is how evidence is gathered and weighted.

“We only need to focus on the statements that apply to our service type.” All 34 statements apply to all adult social care services, though how they apply varies by service type. Do not assume a statement does not apply without checking the guidance.

“An inspector will tell us if we are meeting the statements.” CQC’s approach assumes you know the standards and are working to meet them continuously. Waiting for inspection feedback means you are always reacting rather than leading.

Practical Tips for Demonstrating Compliance

Make feedback routine. Build systems for gathering feedback from people using your service, not just annually but as part of ongoing practice. Short, regular conversations are more valuable than occasional surveys.

Train staff to articulate quality. Your team are your frontline evidence. If staff cannot explain how they deliver person-centred care or how they would respond to a safeguarding concern, that is a training gap. Inspectors will talk to staff at all levels.

Track outcomes, not just activities. It is not enough to say you conduct medication audits. Can you show that medication errors have reduced? Can you demonstrate that people’s health outcomes have improved? Move from process measures to outcome measures.

Connect everything to people. When you describe your practices, always bring it back to impact on individuals. “We review care plans monthly” is process language. “Monthly reviews mean we catch changes in Maria’s needs quickly, like when her mobility declined and we adjusted her support within days” is outcome language.

Stay current with guidance. CQC continues to publish clarifications and supplementary materials. Ensure someone in your organisation monitors these updates and cascades relevant changes to the team.

Getting Started

If quality statements still feel abstract, start with a focused assessment of one area where you know you could improve. Use the six evidence categories as a framework and be honest about where your evidence is strong and where it is thin.

If you want expert support in understanding how your service measures up, our quality statement audits provide detailed feedback against the SAF requirements.

The shift to quality statements is an opportunity. Providers who embrace the focus on outcomes and people’s experiences will find assessments less stressful and ratings more reflective of the quality they actually deliver.