Guide
What policies does CQC actually expect when you register?
If you search for CQC policies, you will find very large packs for sale. It is easy to come away thinking you need all of them before CQC will look at you.
CQC’s own list is shorter, and it is public. This guide walks through it as it stood when we checked on 31 October 2026. CQC updates these pages from time to time, so the pages themselves are always the version to trust. We link each one below.
The documents every new provider sends
CQC’s page Documents everyone must send lists what all new provider applicants include with their application:
- Complaints policy
- Consent policy and procedure
- Equality, diversity and human rights policy
- Governance and quality assurance policies
- Infection prevention and control policy
- Medicines management and prescribing policy (including transportation of patient medication)
- Recruitment policy
- Safeguarding policy and procedure
- Statement of purpose
- Public and employer liability insurance quote or certificate
- Building control final certificate, but only if a location needs building regulations approval
The same page asks most applicants for a financial viability statement too. It lists the exceptions: corporate providers, NHS trusts, care homes, home care (domiciliary care) agencies and supported living services.
Extra documents depending on your service
CQC then adds documents for particular service types on its extra documents page. It covers ambulance services, care homes, GPs and independent consulting doctors, home care agencies, online primary care, oral health and supported living. If your service isn’t on that list, CQC says you only send the core documents.
Care homes
For care homes, CQC adds a business continuity plan, environment risk assessment, evidence of legal occupancy, fire risk assessment, floor plan, gas and electrical safety certificates, legionella risk assessment, planning permissions, service user guides and a staff training plan.
There is also a list of documents CQC says not to send, but to keep ready in case an inspector asks. For care homes it includes a duty of candour policy, a whistleblowing policy, an initial assessment or admission policy, a person centred care planning policy, a reportable incidents policy, a risk management policy and a safety and security of premises policy, along with a sample care plan, a business plan, a list of risk assessments, and your staffing structure and rotas. CQC says that if you can’t provide these when asked, your application may be delayed.
Home care and supported living
Home care agencies have their own list on CQC’s home care page, and supported living has its own page. We’ve written a home care checklist that goes through it line by line.
Services for autistic people and people with a learning disability
If you plan a specialist service for autistic people and people with a learning disability, CQC asks for a positive behaviour support policy and a restraint policy as well, plus an additional form.
What every document has to show
This is the part that catches people out, because it applies to every page in the pack. CQC’s page on what each document must include says each document carries your business name, the name of the person responsible for it, the date it was created and the date it will be reviewed.
It also says every document has to be complete and relevant, contain no personal information about people using the service or members of the public, have up to date references to legislation or guidance with working links, be consistent with your other policies, and be accessible to staff, the people who use your service and their representatives.
On templates, CQC is direct. A third-party template has to suit your service type, and its example is that a residential care template will not work for a home care applicant.
The statement of purpose is a legal document
Your statement of purpose isn’t just another policy. Regulation 12 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 requires it, and Schedule 3 sets out what goes in it, including your aims and objectives, the services you provide and the needs they meet, your legal status and your locations. CQC’s new provider guidance says the service types you tick on your application form need to match the description in your statement of purpose.
That is why the policies and the statement of purpose have to tell the same story.
Fewer documents, more care
CQC’s list isn’t long. What it asks is that each document is about your service: the right service type, your names, your dates, your local arrangements, and nothing that contradicts the rest of the pack.
We can’t tell you which documents your own service needs beyond what CQC publishes. We can’t advise on this. If you’re unsure, CQC’s pages and its general enquiries team are the place to check.
Where OrCore fits
The OrCore interview asks you plain questions about how your service will run, one at a time, on a quiet screen with a blinking cursor. Your answers fill our master policies, so the drafts describe your service rather than someone else’s. You read every one and sign it off as true before you rely on it. CQC still makes the decision, and we can’t promise an outcome.
If you’d like to see how it works, start the interview here.