As a private GP, are there systems that can help prepare for my CQC inspection?

What you need to be able to show

In England, the CQC assesses whether a service is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Under its current framework it gathers evidence in six categories: people’s experience, feedback from staff and leaders, feedback from partners, observation, processes and outcomes. Regulation 17 also requires you to keep accurate, complete and contemporaneous records for each patient, and records about staff and the management of the service.

In practice, when an assessment starts you should be able to produce, quickly:

Evidence	Where it usually lives
Clinical records, prescribing, results follow-up, letters to NHS GPs, consent	Clinical record system
Clinical audits and searches, for example patients on high-risk medicines with monitoring	Clinical record system, with reports or searches
Policies, with dates reviewed and staff acknowledgement	Compliance platform or document store
Significant events, complaints and the learning from them	Compliance platform or incident log
Recruitment checks, DBS, GMC and NMC registration, indemnity, training, appraisal	Workforce or HR tool
Patient feedback and what you changed	Survey tool or compliance platform
Premises, equipment, emergency drugs, infection control and risk assessments	Checklists in a compliance platform or document store

Your clinical record system

For a private GP service, the record system is where the CQC looks to judge whether care is safe and effective. Features that help with inspection evidence include:

• An audit trail showing who viewed, created or changed each record and when.
• Coded data, such as SNOMED CT, so you can search for patients by diagnosis, medicine or test rather than reading notes one by one.
• Searches, registers and reports that make audits quick to repeat.
• Prescribing checks against a drug database for interactions, allergies and dosing.
• Results management that shows every result was seen, actioned and communicated.
• A record of letters sent to NHS GPs, and of consent or refusal to share.
• Recalls for monitoring and follow-up.

Record systems used in private general practice differ widely in these features. Some are built for NHS practices and some for private clinics. Others are practice management tools with limited clinical coding. How to compare them is covered in how to choose a record system. If you still use paper, see can I take paper notes?

Compliance platforms

These store your policies and procedures, prompt reviews, record that staff have read them, and hold incident logs, audits and action plans. Examples include:

• QCS, which offers policy and procedure libraries, audits and mock inspection tools for several care sectors, including a set for GP services.
• GP TeamNet (Agilio), widely used in NHS general practice, which covers policy management with staff acknowledgement, significant events, training records and document sharing.
• Practice Control Tower, a newer tool built around CQC inspection readiness. It holds a register of CQC requirements organised by the five key questions, with the questions an inspector is likely to ask, your answers, an owner and the evidence for each. A red, amber and green readiness score shows where the gaps are. It is currently taking a waitlist: practicecontroltower.co.uk.

Bought-in policy templates save time, but the CQC rejects registration documents that are not relevant to your service, and inspectors notice policies that describe staff or services you do not have. Edit every template to match how you actually work.

Workforce and training tools

If you employ or engage other clinicians or staff, you must show that each one was properly recruited, is registered, is covered by indemnity and is trained. Credentialing platforms such as Credentially collect and monitor identity, right to work, DBS, professional registration, references and mandatory training. E-learning providers supply training modules and certificates. For a solo GP, a simple spreadsheet and folder for your own documents is usually enough.

What software cannot do

• It cannot run your audits for you. You still need to pick a topic, set standards, act on the findings and re-audit. See how to run a clinical audit.
• It cannot create a learning culture. Inspectors talk to staff to find out whether they know the policies and feel able to raise concerns.
• It cannot make a generic policy true. What you write must match what you do.

The governance framework these systems support is explained in what is clinical governance?

Questions to ask before you buy

1. Is it designed for a private GP service, or will you spend time removing content meant for care homes or NHS practices?
2. Can you export your records and documents if you leave?
3. Where is data hosted, and does the supplier hold recognised security assurances, such as Cyber Essentials and the Data Security and Protection Toolkit?
4. For record systems, what coding, searching and audit trail does it provide, and does it meet the NHS clinical safety standard DCB0129?
5. What does it cost per user, and is there a contract or set-up fee?

A simple evidence routine

• Keep one index of your evidence, mapped to the five key questions.
• Review policies on a schedule, and record who has read them.
• Log significant events and complaints as they happen, with the learning.
• Repeat at least one clinical audit cycle a year.
• Check staff files and emergency equipment monthly.

To see which parts of this routine need attention first, try our free CQC inspection readiness scorecard.

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

This article describes the CQC in England. In Wales, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales registers and inspects independent healthcare. In Scotland it is Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and in Northern Ireland the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA). The same kinds of system help, but map your evidence to your own regulator’s standards.

What happens when an assessment starts is covered in will the CQC want to inspect me?