A checklist alone never got a home a good rating. What gets you inspection‑ready is a checklist that does something — one that ties each audit to what CQC assesses, and turns whatever you find into a fixed action and a piece of filed evidence.
This guide gives you both: the audits worth running in a care home, organised the way CQC thinks (by key question), plus the rhythm and the loop that make them count.
Key takeaways
- Group your audits by CQC key question — Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, Well‑led — so your evidence lines up with how you're assessed.
- Run them little and often. Monthly for high‑risk areas beats one annual marathon.
- Every finding becomes an action with an owner and a date — an audit that finds a gap and does nothing is a liability.
- Every completed audit becomes evidence, filed against the statement it supports.
- A checklist doesn't make you compliant — the loop around it does.
What makes an audit checklist actually work
Three things separate a checklist that gets you ready from one that just makes you feel busy:
- It's mapped to CQC. Each audit clearly evidences one or more quality statements under the five key questions — so doing it builds the exact proof you'll be assessed on.
- It produces actions. A gap without an owner and a due date isn't managed; it's just recorded. The fix is the point.
- It produces evidence. The finished audit, and the closed action behind it, are filed where you can find them the day an inspector asks.
An audit that finds a problem and changes nothing is worse than no audit — it's proof you knew.
The checklist — by CQC key question
Here are the core care home audits worth running, grouped by the key question they most support. Adapt them to your service; a nursing home will carry more clinical audits than a small residential home.
- Medication (MAR) audit — administration records, storage temperatures, controlled drugs, PRN protocols, stock reconciliation.
- Infection prevention & control — hand hygiene, PPE, cleaning schedules, outbreak readiness.
- Safeguarding — alerts raised and handled, staff awareness, DoLS status.
- Health & safety / environment — fire safety, legionella, equipment checks, COSHH.
- Risk assessments — falls, moving & handling, pressure care, nutrition risk — current and reviewed.
- Accidents & incidents — recorded, analysed for themes, learning captured.
- Care plans & reviews — person‑centred, up to date, reflect current needs.
- Nutrition & hydration — assessments, food/fluid charts where needed, weight monitoring.
- Mental Capacity Act & DoLS — capacity assessments, best‑interest decisions, authorisations tracked.
- Staff training & competency — mandatory training up to date, competencies signed off.
- Health monitoring — skin integrity, oral health, continence, referrals made and followed up.
- Dignity & privacy — observed practice, not just policy.
- Person‑centred care — preferences, life history and choices reflected in daily care.
- Resident & family feedback — gathered, recorded, and acted on.
- Activities & engagement — meaningful occupation, tailored to individuals.
- Complaints handling — logged, responded to in time, learning applied.
- End‑of‑life care — advance care plans, comfort, family involvement.
- Communication needs — accessible information, sensory and language needs met.
- Governance & quality assurance — your audit programme itself, action tracking, trend analysis.
- Recruitment & staffing — DBS, references, right‑to‑work, safe staffing levels.
- Policies & procedures — current, reviewed, and actually followed.
- Notifications — statutory notifications to CQC made correctly and on time.
How often to run each
Frequency should follow risk. A rough guide most homes can adapt:
| Audit area | Typical frequency |
|---|---|
| Medication | Monthly |
| Infection prevention & control | Monthly |
| Care plans & risk assessments | Monthly (rolling — a share each month) |
| Health & safety / environment | Monthly to quarterly |
| Nutrition & hydration | Quarterly |
| Safeguarding & MCA/DoLS | Quarterly |
| Recruitment / staff files | Quarterly |
| Governance review (audit of audits) | Quarterly |
| Full self‑assessment / mock inspection | Twice a year |
The loop that turns a checklist into readiness
The checklist is only step one. Readiness comes from the loop you run around it:
- Audit — complete it honestly; a flattering audit helps no one.
- Act — every gap becomes an action with a named owner and a due date.
- Evidence — file the completed audit and the closed action against the quality statement they support.
- Review — each month, look across your audits for themes. Recurring problems are the ones inspectors care about most.
Run the whole checklist in one place
Haverton Care Hub has these audits built in for your service type — complete them on any device, findings become tracked actions, and evidence assembles itself into an inspection pack.
Register your interest →Frequently asked questions
What audits should a care home do for CQC?
The core set covers medication, infection prevention and control, safeguarding, health and safety, care plans, nutrition and hydration, mental capacity and DoLS, staff training and competency, complaints, and overall governance — each mapped to CQC's five key questions.
How often should care home audits be done?
Little and often. Higher‑risk areas like medication and infection control are usually monthly; care plans and health and safety monthly to quarterly; a governance review quarterly; and a full self‑assessment twice a year.
Does a checklist make my care home compliant?
No. A checklist only helps if each finding becomes an action that gets fixed, and each completed audit becomes evidence. Ticking boxes without acting isn't compliance.
General guidance to help you organise your own audit programme. Not legal advice, and no guarantee of any inspection outcome. Adapt to your service, your registration and current CQC guidance.