Understanding the CQC Single Assessment Framework: A Practical Guide for Homecare Providers
The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) current assessment framework, commonly known as the Single Assessment Framework (SAF), changed how health and social care services are assessed in England.
While the current framework remains in use, CQC is developing and testing new sector-specific assessment frameworks as part of its wider regulatory reset. For homecare providers, understanding the framework in place today remains essential, both for inspection readiness and for strengthening governance, improving quality and demonstrating outcomes for the people they support.
In this article, we’ll explore:
- What the current Single Assessment Framework is
- The five Key Questions
- The 34 Quality Statements
- The six categories of evidence
- Why strong governance and safety remain critical
- How the CQC assessment approach is evolving
- Frequently asked questions
What Is the Single Assessment Framework?
Introduced by CQC in 2023, the Single Assessment Framework established a common approach to assessing regulated health and social care services.
It was designed to support a more flexible and evidence-led assessment process, with a stronger focus on people’s experiences, outcomes and the quality of care delivered every day.
The current framework is built around three key components:
- Five Key Questions
- 34 Quality Statements
- Six Categories of Evidence
Together, these help CQC assess how well a provider is delivering safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led services.
Importantly, this is the framework providers continue to work within while CQC develops and tests its new sector-specific approach.
The Five Key Questions
The five Key Questions remain at the heart of CQC’s current assessment approach and are also retained within the draft adult social care assessment framework.
Safe
Are people protected from abuse, avoidable harm and unsafe care?
CQC considers areas such as safeguarding, risk management, medicines management, infection prevention and safe systems of care.
Effective
Does care achieve good outcomes and support people to maintain their health and wellbeing?
This includes assessments, care planning, consent, multidisciplinary working and outcome monitoring.
Caring
Are people treated with kindness, dignity, compassion and respect?
CQC considers personalised care, communication, independence, choice and the experiences of people receiving care.
Responsive
Does the service respond to people’s changing needs?
This includes continuity of care, communication, complaints, equality, accessibility and future planning.
Well-Led
Is the organisation well governed and committed to continuous improvement?
Leadership, governance, quality assurance, workforce development and organisational culture all contribute to this assessment area.
The 34 Quality Statements in the Current Framework
The current framework includes 34 Quality Statements sitting beneath the five Key Questions. These describe what good care looks like in practice.
Rather than viewing them as individual compliance requirements, providers should see them as different ways of demonstrating safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care.
Importantly, a single piece of evidence can often support multiple Quality Statements.
For example, a care review may demonstrate person-centred care, risk management, involvement in decision-making and responsiveness to changing needs.
The Six Categories of Evidence
CQC gathers evidence from six broad categories to help build a picture of service quality:
- People’s experiences
- Feedback from staff and leaders
- Feedback from partners
- Observation
- Processes
- Outcomes
These evidence categories continue to inform assessments under the current framework. However, ratings are determined at the Quality Statement level rather than by scoring individual evidence categories.
For providers, this reinforces the importance of being able to bring together evidence from across the organisation rather than relying on individual documents or records in isolation.
Why Strong Governance and Safety Remain Critical
Safety and strong governance remain central to demonstrating the quality of a service.
CQC looks not only at individual incidents or records, but at whether providers have effective systems in place to:
- Identify and manage risks
- Learn from incidents and feedback
- Monitor performance
- Drive continuous improvement
- Demonstrate strong leadership and oversight
This is where digital care management systems can play an important role, providing greater visibility through dashboards, reporting, audit trails and evidence management.
How Is the CQC Assessment Approach Evolving?
CQC is currently developing new sector-specific assessment frameworks as part of its wider regulatory reset.
In March 2026, CQC published four draft sector-specific assessment frameworks for feedback, including a draft Adult Social Care assessment framework. The consultation closed in June, with testing and piloting continuing throughout the summer and further sector-specific engagement planned for autumn 2026.
For adult social care providers, the draft framework retains the five Key Questions but proposes a more sector-specific structure, including clearer topic areas, supporting questions and rating characteristics.
The final framework is not yet in place, so providers should continue to work within CQC’s current assessment framework while keeping up to date with developments.
What Does This Mean for Homecare Providers?
The important message is that providers do not need to put inspection readiness on hold while the new approach is developed.
Much of what matters under the current framework remains important within the direction CQC is taking: people’s experiences and outcomes, safe care, strong governance, effective leadership and clear evidence of quality.
CQC is also increasing assessment activity. This includes returning to eligible adult social care services with older Good ratings, reinforcing the importance of maintaining strong governance and accessible evidence throughout the year.
Rather than asking:
“Are we ready for our inspection?”
providers should be asking:
“Can we demonstrate good care every day?”
Building quality, governance and evidence management into everyday operations puts providers in a stronger position under the current framework and as CQC’s new approach develops.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Single Assessment Framework changing?
Yes. CQC is developing new sector-specific assessment frameworks as part of its wider regulatory reset.
The draft Adult Social Care assessment framework was published in March 2026, and CQC has continued testing and piloting the proposed approach. Further sector-specific engagement is planned for autumn 2026 before the new approach is finalised.
In the meantime, providers continue to be assessed under the current framework.
What do the proposed changes mean for homecare providers?
The draft Adult Social Care assessment framework retains the five Key Questions but proposes a more sector-specific approach, with clearer topic areas, supporting questions and rating characteristics.
For homecare providers, the emphasis remains on people’s experiences and outcomes, strong governance, effective leadership and being able to demonstrate the quality of care through appropriate evidence.
Will providers need to start again?
No. Much of the evidence providers already collect remains relevant.
Rather than creating entirely new documentation now, providers should focus on ensuring existing evidence is accurate, accessible and demonstrates the quality and outcomes of the care they provide.
As CQC finalises its new assessment approach, providers can then consider how that evidence maps against the new framework.
Should providers be preparing now?
Yes.
Regardless of when the new framework is introduced, reviewing governance processes, strengthening evidence management and maintaining continuous inspection readiness are worthwhile steps.
Providers should also continue to monitor CQC updates as the new Adult Social Care assessment framework is refined and implementation plans become clearer.
How can digital care management systems help?
Digital care management systems can help providers capture evidence through everyday care delivery, improve operational visibility and make information easier to retrieve during assessments.
From care plans and risk assessments to incidents, audits, staff records and outcomes, bringing information together digitally can support stronger governance and continuous readiness while reducing the administrative burden of preparing for an assessment.
Did You Know?
OneTouch includes a dedicated CQC Audit feature designed to help providers organise supporting evidence against CQC’s five Key Questions: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-Led.
Rather than gathering documents in the lead-up to an assessment, providers can build a central evidence repository as part of everyday operations. Supporting documentation, governance records, audits and other evidence can be uploaded and organised throughout the year, making it easier to conduct mock audits and demonstrate compliance when required.
Combined with real-time dashboards, audit trails, tagging functionality and integrated reporting, OneTouch helps providers maintain continuous inspection readiness while reducing the administrative burden associated with preparing for CQC assessments.
Want to See How It Works?
Book a personalised demonstration to see how OneTouch supports evidence management, governance and continuous inspection readiness for homecare providers.
