CQC notifications: what to report, when, and how to evidence it
Late or missing statutory notifications are one of the easiest ways for a well-run service to pick up a 'well-led' concern. This guide sets out the notifiable events for adult social care providers in England, the timescales CQC expects, and the records that show you handled each one properly.
Where the duty comes from
Notifications are required by the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, which sit alongside the fundamental standards in the 2014 Regulated Activities Regulations. The duty falls on the registered person — the provider, and in practice usually the registered manager acting for them.
Failing to notify is a breach in its own right. CQC can take enforcement action for the missing notification even when the underlying incident was handled well, so treat the notification as part of your incident response rather than an afterthought.
Events you normally have to notify
Death of a person using the service, where the death may relate to the care or treatment provided, or occurred while the regulated activity was being provided.
Serious injury — for example a fracture, an injury needing treatment to prevent permanent harm, or harm causing prolonged pain or psychological harm.
Abuse, or an allegation of abuse, involving a person using the service, whether the alleged source is staff, another person using the service, a visitor or a family member.
Any incident reported to or investigated by the police.
Applications to deprive a person of their liberty and their outcomes, including community DoLS authorisations by the Court of Protection.
Events that stop or seriously affect the service — loss of premises, fire or flood, prolonged loss of utilities, IT failure affecting care records, or staffing that has fallen below safe levels.
Death or unauthorised absence of a person detained under the Mental Health Act, where that applies to your service.
Changes to the service: a change of address, of registered manager, of nominated individual, or a decision to stop providing a regulated activity.
Absence of the registered manager, usually where the absence will be 28 days or more, with notice given in advance where the absence is planned.
How to decide, quickly, whether an event is notifiable
Managers rarely struggle with the obvious cases; the difficulty is the borderline ones at 7pm on a Friday. A short decision routine keeps you consistent.
Was the person receiving a regulated activity from us at the time, or shortly before?
Did the outcome involve death, serious injury, abuse, police involvement, or a restriction of liberty?
Could a reasonable person link the outcome to the care we gave, or to a gap in it?
Does the event stop us delivering safe care to anyone else?
If the answer to any of these is yes or uncertain, notify and say what is still unconfirmed — a notification can be updated, a late one cannot be undone.
Timescales in practice
Most incident-based notifications must be made without delay. Do not wait for your internal investigation to finish, for a post-mortem result, or for the safeguarding meeting; submit what you know and update CQC as the picture develops.
Service-change notifications work differently — a change of registered manager, a change of address or ceasing a regulated activity are notified through the provider portal, usually in advance, and some involve an application rather than a notification.
Who does what
Registered manager: decides notifiability, submits or approves the notification, and owns the follow-up.
Deputy or on-call manager: has portal access and written authority to notify out of hours, so nothing waits until Monday.
Nominated individual: sees a weekly log of notifications made, which is the evidence CQC looks for at provider level.
Staff on shift: report incidents internally immediately, using a form that flags the notifiable categories in plain words.
The evidence to keep
Assessors rarely ask 'did you notify?' in isolation. They ask to see the trail from the incident to the learning.
A notifications log: date of event, date CQC was told, reference number, category, and who submitted it.
A copy or screenshot of each submission and any acknowledgement.
The linked incident record, body map or medicines record, and the safeguarding referral where one was made.
Your decision note for events you judged not notifiable — this is what protects you when the judgement is questioned later.
Evidence of learning: supervision notes, updated risk assessments, care plan changes, and the analysis in your governance meeting minutes.
Common mistakes
Treating a safeguarding referral as covering the CQC duty.
Waiting for the outcome of an investigation before notifying.
Notifying the death but not the serious injury that preceded it.
Only the registered manager holding portal access, so nothing is notified during annual leave.
No trend analysis — twelve individually notified falls with no pattern review is a governance finding, not a safety one.
Common questions
What are CQC statutory notifications?
Statutory notifications are events a registered provider must tell CQC about by law, set out in the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. They include deaths of people using the service, serious injuries, abuse or allegations of abuse, police involvement, applications and outcomes relating to deprivation of liberty, and events that stop or seriously affect the running of the service.
How quickly must a notification be sent?
Most notifications must be sent without delay once you become aware of the event. CQC treats 'without delay' as as soon as reasonably practicable, not at the end of the week. Some notifications, such as planned changes to the service or a registered manager's absence, have their own notice periods.
Do I need to notify CQC if someone dies in hospital?
It depends on the circumstances. A death must be notified where the person was receiving your regulated activity and the death may relate to the care they received, including where they died after being taken to hospital. Check the current CQC notification guidance for the exact scope, and record your reasoning either way.
Does a safeguarding referral replace a CQC notification?
No. A referral to the local authority safeguarding team and a notification to CQC are separate duties. Abuse or an allegation of abuse involving a person using your service normally requires both, alongside any police report.
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