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Knowledge hub · Compliance
CQC Statutory Notifications: What to Report, When and How
Every notification CQC lists, the regulation behind it, the deadline and how to send it, with a "do I need to notify?" table for home care, supported living and care homes. Checked against the law and CQC on 18 October 2026.
- Notification types CQC lists: 13 events and 8 changes
- 21
- Of them can be sent on the CQC provider portal
- 8
- Fixed penalty for a provider that fails to notify
- £1,250
- Notice CQC needs before a manager's planned long absence
- 28 days
By the Care Sync Experts compliance team, led by a former CQC Senior Inspector Manager with more than 20 years in regulation. Last checked .
What Is a CQC Statutory Notification?
A statutory notification is a report that every CQC registered provider and registered manager in England must send CQC, by law, when certain events happen. The duty comes from the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. Deaths, serious injuries, abuse or allegations of abuse, police incidents and events that stop the service running safely must be notified without delay. Absences and changes to your registration have their own deadlines. Failing to make most of these notifications is an offence.
This guide covers England, where CQC regulates. In Wales, social care notifications go to Care Inspectorate Wales, in Scotland to the Care Inspectorate, and in Northern Ireland to RQIA. It is general information, not legal advice.
At a Glance: CQC Notifications in 2026
| The law | Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, regulations 12, 14 to 18, 21 and 22 |
|---|---|
| Who must notify | The registered person: the provider and the registered manager |
| Most incidents | Without delay: deaths, serious injuries, abuse, police incidents, events that stop safe care |
| DoLS | Once the outcome of the application is known, not when you apply |
| Manager absence | 28 days before a planned absence of 28 days or more; within 5 working days of an emergency one starting |
| Changes | As soon as reasonably practicable; statement of purpose within 28 days of a revision |
| How | 8 notifications on the CQC provider portal, the rest by Word form and email |
| Personal details | Use a unique code for the person, not their name or date of birth |
| If you do not notify | An offence for notifications under regulations 12 and 14 to 18. Fixed penalty £1,250 for a provider, £625 for a registered manager |
Source: Registration Regulations 2009; CQC, notifications guidance for providers (20 May 2025); CQC provider portal (29 July 2026); CQC enforcement policy. Full list under Sources.
The full list
List of CQC Notifications: All 21 Types
CQC lists 21 notification types: 13 events and incidents and 8 changes to your registered details. The number 21 is CQC's list of forms, not a figure in the law, and all but one rest on a regulation; the exception is changing your contact details, which is a CQC form rather than a legal duty. Adult social care providers mainly use the first six, plus the absence and change forms.
Events and Incidents
| Number | Notification | Regulation | When | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death of a person using the service | 16 | Without delay | Portal or email |
| 2 | Serious injury to a person using the service | 18(2)(a) and (b) | Without delay | Portal or email |
| 3 | Allegations of abuse (safeguarding) | 18(2)(e) | Without delay | Portal or email |
| 4 | Police involvement in an incident | 18(2)(f) | Without delay | Portal or email |
| 5 | Events that stop a service running safely and properly | 18(2)(g) | Without delay | Portal or email |
| 6 | Outcome of an application to deprive a person of their liberty (DoLS) | 18(4A) and (4B) | Once the outcome or withdrawal is known | Portal or email |
| 7 | Death of a detained mental health patient | 17 | Without delay | Portal or email |
| 8 | Unauthorised absence (detained mental health patient) | 17 | Without delay | Portal or email |
| 9 | Children and young people in adult psychiatric units | 18(2)(h) | Without delay, once the placement has lasted over 48 hours | |
| 10 | Absence of a registered individual for 28 days or more | 14 | 28 days before a planned absence; within 5 working days of an emergency one | |
| 11 | Return of a registered individual after an absence of 28 days or more | 14(5) | Within 7 working days of returning | |
| 12 | Death of a registered provider (and plans for the service) | 21 | Without delay; for an individual provider, plans within 28 days | |
| 13 | Liquidator or trustee's plans for a service | 22 | Plans within 28 days of appointment |
Changes to Your Registered Details
| Number | Notification | Regulation | When | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Changes to your statement of purpose | 12(3) | Within 28 days of the revision | |
| 2 | Registered manager for an activity | 15 | As soon as reasonably practicable | |
| 3 | Nominated individuals, officers and directors | 15 | As soon as reasonably practicable | |
| 4 | Provider's name and address | 15 | As soon as reasonably practicable | |
| 5 | Change of an individual's name | 15 | As soon as reasonably practicable | |
| 6 | Provider stopping regulated activities | 15 | As soon as reasonably practicable | |
| 7 | Insolvency | 15 | As soon as reasonably practicable | |
| 8 | Change contact details | CQC form | When they change |
Source: Registration Regulations 2009; CQC, notifications; CQC, provider portal (29 July 2026). Regulation references are to the 2009 Regulations. Event forms go to HSCA_notifications@cqc.org.uk, except a liquidator or trustee's plans, which go to HSCA_applications@cqc.org.uk with all eight change forms.
Deadlines
CQC Notification Timescales
The law sets different deadlines for different notifications. Most incidents have no fixed number of hours: the test is without delay.
| Deadline | What it applies to | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Without delay | Deaths, serious injuries, abuse or allegations of abuse, police incidents, events that stop safe care, detained patients' deaths and absences. CQC's form pages say "as soon as possible". | 16, 17, 18 |
| Once the outcome is known | DoLS standard authorisations and Court of Protection applications, including withdrawals. | 18(4B) |
| 28 days before | A planned absence of the registered manager, or of an individual provider in day to day charge, lasting 28 days or more, unless CQC agrees a shorter period. | 14(2) |
| Within 5 working days | An emergency absence of 28 days or more, counted from when it starts. | 14(3) |
| Immediately | An absence of 28 days or more that was not notified in time. The law says forthwith. | 14(4) |
| Within 7 working days | The return of the registered person after an absence of 28 days or more. | 14(5) |
| Within 28 days | After you revise your statement of purpose. | 12(3) |
| As soon as reasonably practicable | Changes to who carries on or manages the activity, names, addresses, directors, nominated individual, partners, insolvency. This includes changes you are planning. | 15 |
Source: Regulation 14; Regulation 15; Regulation 18; Regulation 12. Working days exclude weekends, Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays.
Myth: notify within 24 hours
No CQC notification has a 24 hour deadline. 24 hours is how long a utility, fire alarm or safety equipment failure must last before it becomes notifiable.
Myth: notify within 48 hours
48 hours is how long a child's placement in an adult psychiatric unit must last before it is notifiable. It is not a reporting deadline.
Myth: changes need 28 days' notice
Changes under regulation 15 are due as soon as reasonably practicable. The 28 day figures apply to planned absences and statement of purpose revisions.
What does without delay mean in practice? Our advice: send the notification as soon as you know the facts that make the event notifiable. Do not wait for an internal investigation, a safeguarding outcome or a post mortem. You can send updates later, quoting the reference number. Our fundamental standards guide explains the wider regulations.
Regulation 16
CQC Notification of Death
Adult social care providers must notify CQC without delay of the death of a person using the service if they died while a regulated activity was being provided, or if the death may have resulted from the regulated activity or how it was provided.
This includes expected deaths. The exception for deaths that follow the natural course of an illness applies only to NHS bodies, GP and other primary medical services, and local authority public health services. It does not apply to care homes, home care or supported living.
The notification must describe the circumstances of the death. Use the "Death of a person using the service" form on the portal or by email. Deaths of people detained, or liable to be detained, under the Mental Health Act 1983 use a separate form under regulation 17, and are the one case where you give the person's name and date of birth.
In home care, CQC has not published guidance on what "while services were being provided" means between visits. Our reading is to ask two questions: did the person die while your staff were providing care, including live-in care, and could the death have resulted from the care or how it was given, including care that was missed or late?
If the answer to either is yes, notify. In a December 2024 response to a coroner, CQC followed up a missing death notification even though the provider said the death had not happened while services were being provided. If you are unsure, notify.
Which Regulation Covers Deaths, Even if Expected?
Regulation 16 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. For adult social care it has no exception for expected or natural deaths.
Source: Regulation 16; Regulation 17; CQC, death of a person using the service; CQC, notifications guidance (20 May 2025); CQC response to a coroner (11 December 2024).
Regulation 18(2)(a) and (b)
CQC Serious Injury Notifications
The test is not whether the person went to hospital. It is whether, in the reasonable opinion of a health care professional, the injury caused, or needs treatment to prevent, one of the outcomes the law lists.
Examples of Injuries That Are Notifiable
- Damage to sight, hearing, touch, smell or taste, a major organ (including the brain and skin), bones, muscles, tendons, joints or blood vessels, or to intellectual functions such as speech, memory or judgement, that is permanent or lasts, or is likely to last, at least 28 days
- A change to the structure of the person's body
- Pain that lasts, or is likely to last, at least 28 days
- Psychological harm lasting at least 28 days, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, clinical depression or anxiety, or other stress that needs clinical treatment
- Anything that shortens the person's life expectancy
- An injury that needs treatment by a health care professional to prevent death or one of the outcomes above
- A pressure sore of grade 3 or above that develops after the person started using the service
Source: Regulation 18(2) and 18(5); CQC, regulation 18 guidance. CQC says its examples are not exhaustive.
True or false?
"The regulator does not need to be told about a serious injury."
False. A serious injury to a person using a registered service must be notified to CQC without delay, if it happened while care was being provided or as a consequence of it.
Falls, Fractures and Medicines Errors
A fall with no injury is not notifiable on its own. A fall that causes a fracture almost always is, because a health care professional will normally judge it a change to the structure of the body or an injury needing treatment to prevent lasting harm. CQC says only notify a medicines error if it causes a notifiable event.
Regulation 18(2)(e)
Abuse and Safeguarding Notifications
You must notify CQC without delay of any abuse or allegation of abuse in relation to a person using the service. An allegation is enough: you do not wait until it is proven, and the person alleged to be responsible does not have to be a member of staff.
Sexual abuse
Any sexual activity the person did not or could not consent to.
Physical or psychological ill-treatment
Hitting, rough handling, threats, humiliation or control.
Theft or misuse of money or property
Including taking, borrowing or misusing the person's money or belongings.
Neglect and acts of omission
Which cause harm or place the person at risk of harm, such as missed care or medicines.
Source: The four kinds of abuse are defined in regulation 18(5)(b). The descriptions are ours.
A Safeguarding Referral Is Not a CQC Notification
They are separate. The local authority leads safeguarding enquiries under the Care Act 2014. CQC needs its own notification from you. Telling the local authority does not tell CQC, and the duty to notify CQC stays with the registered person.
Does Every Safeguarding Concern Need Notifying?
No. The trigger is abuse or an allegation of abuse, within the four kinds above, involving a person using the service. A concern that does not involve abuse, such as some self-neglect referrals, may not need a CQC notification, but should still be recorded with your reasons.
More in our safeguarding adults guide.
Regulation 18(2)(f)
Police Involvement in an Incident
Notify CQC without delay of any incident that is reported to, or investigated by, the police, where it happened while care was being provided or as a consequence of it.
It does not matter who called the police. If the incident also has its own form, such as an allegation of abuse, CQC asks you to use that specific form. English NHS bodies are exempt from this one.
Examples
- A person's money goes missing and the family reports it to the police
- Police are called to an aggressive visitor at a care home
- Police investigate a care worker after a complaint from a client
- A person using the service is arrested during a visit
Source: CQC, police involvement in an incident (12 March 2024); regulation 18(3). The examples are ours.
Regulation 18(2)(g)
Events That Stop a Service Running Safely
Notify CQC without delay of any event that stops you, or seems likely to stop you, providing care safely or in line with the registration requirements. The law gives four examples, and the list is not exhaustive.
Not enough staff
Too few suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's assessed needs safely.
Utilities over 24 hours
Electricity, gas, water or sewerage to premises you own or use interrupted for more than 24 hours in a row.
Damage to premises
Physical damage to premises you own or use, such as fire or flood, that affects, or is likely to affect, care.
Safety systems over 24 hours
Fire alarms, call systems or other safety equipment failing for more than 24 hours.
Source: Regulation 18(2)(g); CQC, events that stop a service running safely (20 May 2025); GOV.UK, report an outbreak in adult social care (21 May 2026).
Infection Outbreaks
CQC has no separate outbreak notification on its current list. Its guidance points providers to the GOV.UK guidance on notifiable diseases. Report acute respiratory infection outbreaks in adult social care to your local UKHSA health protection team or community infection control team, as GOV.UK explains. An outbreak becomes a CQC notification when it causes one of the notifiable events, for example when staff sickness means you cannot cover care safely, or a person dies or is seriously harmed.
Children in Adult Psychiatric Units
Providers of adult psychiatric units must notify CQC when a person under 18 has been placed there for longer than 48 hours in a row. This is the only notification with a 48 hour trigger, and it goes by email.
Regulation 18(4A) and (4B)
CQC DoLS Notifications
Notify CQC of the outcome of a request to deprive a person of their liberty, not the request itself. CQC says not to notify that you are making an application.
What to Notify
- The outcome of a DoLS standard authorisation request, which care homes and hospitals make
- The outcome of a Court of Protection application, the route in supported living and home care
- A request or application that is withdrawn
- Court of Protection outcomes even where someone else, such as the local authority, applied
Include the date and type of request, whether an urgent authorisation came first, the outcome or reason for withdrawal, and its date.
2026 update
The Supreme Court Changed the Test
On 2 June 2026 the Supreme Court overruled the 2014 Cheshire West "acid test" for deciding whether someone is deprived of their liberty. CQC's statement of 8 June 2026 asks providers to consider case by case whether an authorisation is needed, and the government published guidance on 15 June 2026.
The notification rule has not changed: when an authorisation is applied for, notify CQC of the outcome.
Source: CQC, DoLS outcome notification (12 March 2024); CQC statement (8 June 2026, updated 16 June 2026); DHSC, changes to the definition of deprivation of liberty.
Read our Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards guide and Mental Capacity Act guide.
Regulations 12, 14 and 15
Absence of the Registered Manager and Changes to Registration
These are not incidents, but they are statutory notifications, and they are offences to miss in the same way.
Regulation 14
Absence of 28 Days or More
Applies to the registered manager, or an individual provider who manages the service. Planned absence: at least 28 days before. Emergency absence: within 5 working days. Return: within 7 working days. Say why, how long, how the service will be run, the name, address and qualifications of the person in charge, and for a manager's absence, how and when someone will be appointed to manage during it.
Regulation 15
Changes
As soon as reasonably practicable, including changes you are planning: a new person carrying on or managing the activity, stopping an activity, name or address changes, directors and the nominated individual, partners, and the appointment of a receiver, liquidator or trustee in bankruptcy.
Regulation 12
Statement of Purpose
Keep it under review. Whenever you revise it, send CQC the new version within 28 days. A new registered manager also has to apply to CQC for their own registration.
Source: Regulation 14; CQC, regulation 15 (16 May 2025); Regulation 12; CQC, registered manager for an activity.
See our registered manager requirements guide for what happens when a manager leaves.
How to submit
How to Submit a CQC Notification
There are two routes. The provider portal handles the most common notifications. Everything else is a Word form you download from CQC, complete and email.
- 1
Check it is notifiable
Use the list and the table on this page, and the regulation behind each type.
- 2
Choose the right form
Use the specific form for the event, and always download the latest version from CQC.
- 3
Use a code, not a name
Give the person a unique identifier and keep the key securely. The exception is the death of a detained mental health patient.
- 4
Submit
On the CQC provider portal, or by email. Event and incident forms go to HSCA_notifications@cqc.org.uk. Forms for changes to your registered details, and a liquidator or trustee's plans, go to HSCA_applications@cqc.org.uk.
- 5
Keep the reference
The portal gives a reference number at once. Emailed forms get an acknowledgement with a reference. Quote it in any follow-up.
On the Provider Portal
- Allegations of abuse (safeguarding)
- Death of a person using the service
- Death of a detained mental health patient
- Serious injury to a person using the service
- Police involvement in an incident
- Events that stop a service running safely and properly
- Outcome of an application to deprive a person of their liberty (DoLS)
- Unauthorised absence
Accounts are for the nominated individual, responsible individual, registered manager or main partner, each using their own email address registered with CQC. The nominated individual can also set up accounts for colleagues who do not hold a regulatory role. Logins from before February 2024 no longer work.
Source: CQC, provider portal (29 July 2026); CQC, notifications guidance (20 May 2025); Regulation 22A (notifications must use CQC's forms). CQC returns incomplete forms.
Worked examples
Do I Need to Notify CQC? 16 Real Situations
Our reading of the regulations and CQC's guidance, applied to situations home care, supported living and care home managers meet every week. Where the answer depends on a health care professional's view or the facts, we say so.
| Situation | Notify? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A person dies during an end of life care visit at home, as expected | Yes | They died while care was being provided. Regulation 16 has no exception for expected deaths in social care. |
| A person falls in their room, is checked and has no injury | No | No notifiable event. Record it, review their falls risk and tell the family as agreed. |
| A person falls and hospital confirms a fractured hip | Yes | Serious injury under regulation 18(2)(a): a fracture changes the structure of the body and will almost always meet the threshold. Notify without delay. |
| A person attends A&E after a fall, has a cut glued and goes home | Depends | Hospital attendance is not the test. Notify only if a health care professional judges the injury meets the threshold. |
| A grade 3 pressure ulcer develops while a person is in your care | Yes | CQC's guidance names pressure sores of grade 3 or above as serious injuries. |
| A care worker gives the wrong dose and the GP says no harm was caused | Depends | Usually not. CQC says only notify a medicines error if it leads to an allegation of abuse, a death, a police incident or a serious injury. If the error is part of a pattern, was deliberate, or is referred to safeguarding as possible neglect, notify it as an allegation of abuse. Record, investigate and apply duty of candour if it applies. |
| A medicines error means a person needs hospital treatment to prevent serious harm | Yes | Serious injury under regulation 18(2)(b), where a health care professional judges the treatment was needed to prevent death or one of the serious injury outcomes. |
| A client says a care worker took money from their purse | Yes | An allegation of abuse (theft). Notify CQC and refer to the local authority. If the police are involved, CQC asks you to use the specific form for the event rather than the police form. |
| A care visit is missed and the person goes without food or medicines | Depends | Neglect that causes harm, or places the person at risk of harm, counts as abuse under regulation 18. Follow your safeguarding procedure and notify if it meets that test. |
| Sickness means you cannot cover tomorrow's visits safely | Yes | An event likely to stop safe care: regulation 18(2)(g). Notify, and tell the commissioner if your contract requires it. |
| A care home loses power for 30 hours | Yes | Utility interruption for longer than 24 hours: regulation 18(2)(g)(ii). |
| The fire alarm panel fails and is repaired within six hours | No | Under the 24 hour trigger, unless the failure stopped you providing care safely. Record it. |
| You send a DoLS application to the local authority | No | Notify the outcome once you know it, not the application. |
| Your registered manager goes on unexpected sick leave that will last six weeks | Yes | Emergency absence of 28 days or more: within 5 working days, under regulation 14(3). |
| You update your statement of purpose to add a new service user group | Yes | Notify CQC within 28 days of the revision, under regulation 12(3). |
| A person dies in hospital two weeks after their last visit, from an unrelated illness | Depends | Not while care was being provided, on our reading. Notify if the death may have resulted from your care or how it was provided, for example missed visits before admission. If unsure, notify. |
Source: Applying regulations 12, 14, 16 and 18 of the 2009 Regulations and CQC's regulation 18 and notifications guidance. These are general examples, not legal advice. If in doubt, ask CQC or notify.
Writing it
What to Write in a CQC Notification
CQC reads notifications to decide whether to act. A clear one shows you are in control. A vague one invites questions.
Cover These Points
- The person's unique code, not their name
- What happened, when and where, in plain facts
- The injury and the health care professional's view
- What you did straight away to keep people safe
- Who else you told: family, local authority, police, GP
- Duty of candour, where it applies
- What happens next, and when you will update CQC
Weak example
"Client fell and went to hospital. Family aware."
No code, time, injury, health professional view, actions or next steps.
Strong example
"Person HC-0412 was found on the bedroom floor at 07:40 on 14 October by care worker CW-18 during a morning visit. Ambulance called at 07:45. Hospital confirmed a fractured left hip that afternoon. Daughter told at 08:10. Falls risk assessment and moving and handling plan under review; GP and local authority informed. We will update CQC after discharge."
An invented example to show the level of detail.
Governance
Evidence to Keep, and Who Sends It
The registered person can delegate the task, but stays responsible. CQC expects clear and effective delegation arrangements, so notifications still go out when the manager is off.
In our experience, inspectors compare incident, safeguarding and accident records with what was notified. Gaps between the two quickly raise questions under the Safe and Well-led key questions.
A Simple Notifications System
- A named owner and a named deputy for notifications, written into your policy
- A notifications log: date, event, regulation, form, who sent it, CQC reference
- A monthly check that every incident and safeguarding record was assessed for notification
- The code key for people's identifiers stored securely and separately
- Portal accounts set up for more than one eligible person
- Training for senior staff on what is notifiable, with scenarios
Source: CQC, notifications guidance (20 May 2025). The system is our recommended good practice.
If you do not notify
What Happens If You Don't Notify CQC?
Failing to make a notification required by regulations 12 or 14 to 18 is a criminal offence in its own right under regulation 25. CQC does not have to show anyone was harmed, and it can prosecute without first issuing a warning notice.
Penalties
| Route | Provider | Registered manager |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed penalty notice, per missed notification | £1,250 | £625 |
| Prosecution, per offence | Up to £2,500 | Up to £2,500 |
A missed notification can also be used as evidence about how well led the service is, and can affect your rating.
Source: CQC, penalties, fines and offences; Regulation 25 (a level 4 fine); CQC, offences.
March 2017 · Liverpool
The owners of a care home pleaded guilty to 13 notification offences, for not telling CQC about the deaths of ten residents and three serious incidents. Fined £20,800 for those offences, alongside £60,000 for unsafe care.
CQC announcementAfter a 2017 inspection · North London
A supported living provider received three fixed penalty notices of £1,250, a total of £3,750, for not notifying two allegations of abuse and an incident where the police were called.
CQC announcementApril 2014 · Hull
A care home provider and its manager received fixed penalty notices totalling £1,875 for not notifying two injuries to residents that needed hospital treatment.
CQC announcement
More on how CQC uses its powers in our CQC enforcement action guide.
Case studies
Providers We Have Taken Through CQC Registration
Knowing what to notify, and how fast, is something we prepare every applicant to explain at the CQC registration interview. These providers prepared with us, and tell the story in their own words.
CQC registration
Quality CareZone Services
One founder in Staffordshire acting as both registered manager and nominated individual. Business plan, statement of purpose, policies and interview coaching, then a first time pass.
CQC registration
Kursi Healthcare Limited
Came to us with a rejected application that someone else had prepared. We rebuilt the pack from the business up, then prepared them for interview. Now CQC registered.
CQC registration
VPEG Care Services
Applied to CQC three times on their own and each application came back. We rebuilt the pack so every document agreed and coached both the RM and NI. Now CQC registered.
CQC registration
Breathe Healthcare
We built their full application pack and prepared their registered manager and nominated individual for the fit person interview. Registered first time.
Your interview next
We prepare you for the notification and safeguarding questions at interview, using scenarios built from your own service.
Watch: CQC Notifications in Practice
Six short videos from our team on notifiable incidents, safeguarding records, medication errors and the notification questions CQC asks at interview.
Your Carer Was Accused of Abuse at ANOTHER Job. What You Must Do
When a care worker is under investigation elsewhere: the position of trust process, the local authority referral, whether to notify CQC, risk assessment and suspension.
CQC Registered Manager Interview Questions: The Drill That Got Everyone Through First Time
A practice drill on notifications: deciding which incidents must be reported to CQC and which are handled internally.
What Inspectors Really Want to See in Your Logs
Why your safeguarding log and your CQC notifications must tell the same story, and what inspectors check.
Why "Zero Concerns" Is a Massive CQC Red Flag
Why a registered manager saying the service has never had a safeguarding concern worries inspectors.
5 Steps To Handle Medication Errors
What to do after a medication error, including duty of candour and when an error becomes notifiable to CQC.
CQC Interviews: The Safeguarding Experience You NEED To Know
How to show your safeguarding experience at the CQC interview: preventing abuse, responding to and reporting incidents, and learning from them.
How Care Sync Experts Can Help
We write notification and safeguarding policies for your type of service, check your incident records against what was notified in a mock inspection, and prepare new providers for the notification questions CQC asks at registration. 94% of the applications we support are approved first time, across more than 1,200 providers in 10 years.
- Free CQC notifications checklist (PDF)
- CQC mock inspections
- Policies and procedures
- CQC registration package: fixed £4,000 + VAT
Sources
Every rule and figure in this guide comes from these pages, checked on 18 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Law
- Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009
- Regulation 12: statement of purpose
- Regulation 14: notice of absence
- Regulation 15: notice of changes
- Regulation 16: death of a service user
- Regulation 17: detained service users
- Regulation 18: other incidents
- Regulation 22A: form of notifications
- Regulation 25: offences
- Regulated Activities Regulations 2014, regulation 20 (duty of candour)
- Care Act 2014, section 42
- Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019, regulation 3
CQC
- Notifications
- Notifications: guidance for providers (20 May 2025)
- Provider portal (29 July 2026)
- Regulation 18 guidance
- Regulation 15 guidance (16 May 2025)
- Death of a person using the service
- Police involvement in an incident (12 March 2024)
- Events that stop a service running safely (20 May 2025)
- DoLS outcome notification (12 March 2024)
- Absence of a registered individual (23 April 2020)
- Return after an absence (27 February 2024)
- Registered manager for an activity (6 August 2024)
- Penalties, fines and offences
- Offences
- Statement on the Supreme Court's deprivation of liberty judgment (8 June 2026)
- Liverpool care home prosecution (6 March 2017)
- Supported living provider fined £3,750
- Hull care home fined £1,875 (29 April 2014)
Government and other bodies
- DHSC, changes to the definition of deprivation of liberty (15 June 2026, updated 22 September 2026)
- HSE, health and social care arrangements
- GOV.UK, report an outbreak of acute respiratory infection in adult social care (21 May 2026)
- CQC response to a coroner's prevention of future deaths report (11 December 2024)
Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Frequently asked questions
Statutory notifications are reports that CQC registered providers and registered managers in England must send CQC by law when certain events happen, such as a death, a serious injury, abuse or an allegation of abuse, police involvement or an event that stops the service running safely. The duty comes from the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, and failing to make most of these notifications is an offence.
Without delay: deaths of people using the service, serious injuries, abuse or allegations of abuse, incidents reported to or investigated by the police, events that stop the service running safely, and deaths or unauthorised absences of detained mental health patients. Also the outcome of DoLS and Court of Protection applications, absences of the registered manager of 28 days or more, and changes to your registration and statement of purpose.
CQC lists 21 notification types: 13 events and incidents and 8 changes to registered details. The number is CQC's list of forms rather than a figure in the law, and all but the contact details form are based on a regulation in the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009.
The regulations do not set a number of hours, and CQC's form pages say as soon as possible. In practice, notify as soon as you know the facts that make the event notifiable. Do not wait for an internal investigation or a safeguarding outcome; you can send an update later quoting the reference number. There is no legal 24 hour deadline.
Eight notification types can be sent on the CQC provider portal: abuse, death of a person using the service, death of a detained mental health patient, serious injury, police involvement, events that stop a service running safely, DoLS outcomes and unauthorised absence. All others are sent by downloading the latest CQC Word form, completing it and emailing it to CQC. Keep the reference number CQC gives you.
Emailed event and incident forms go to HSCA_notifications@cqc.org.uk. Forms for changes to your registered details, such as the registered manager, statement of purpose, names, addresses, directors, contact details, insolvency or stopping a regulated activity, go to HSCA_applications@cqc.org.uk, as does a liquidator or trustee's plans for a service. Use a unique code for the person rather than their name or date of birth, except for the death of a detained mental health patient.
Yes, for adult social care. Regulation 16 requires you to notify CQC without delay of the death of a person using the service if they died while a regulated activity was being provided, or if the death may have resulted from the regulated activity. The exception for natural, expected deaths applies only to NHS bodies, primary medical services and local authority public health services.
Yes. Regulation 18 requires notification without delay of an injury to a person using the service that, in the reasonable opinion of a health care professional, has caused or needs treatment to prevent death, a lasting impairment, a change to the structure of the body, pain or psychological harm lasting at least 28 days, or shortened life expectancy. Going to hospital is not the test.
Not if the person was not injured, although you should record the fall and review their risk assessment. A fall that causes a fracture will almost always meet the serious injury threshold and should be notified without delay. If a person goes to hospital but a health care professional does not judge the injury to meet the serious injury threshold, it is not notifiable as a serious injury.
CQC's regulation 18 guidance includes a pressure sore of grade 3 or above that develops after the person started using the service as a serious injury, so it should be notified without delay. Grade 1 and 2 pressure damage is not named, but record it and act on it. If an ulcer is unstageable or a suspected deep tissue injury, ask the clinician for their view and, if in doubt, notify.
No. Notify CQC once you know the outcome of a DoLS standard authorisation request or a Court of Protection application, or if it is withdrawn. CQC says not to notify that an application is being made. The Supreme Court changed the test for deprivation of liberty on 2 June 2026, but the notification rule has not changed.
CQC has no separate outbreak notification on its current list, and its guidance points providers to the GOV.UK guidance on notifiable diseases. Report acute respiratory infection outbreaks to your local UKHSA health protection team or community infection control team. Notify CQC if the outbreak causes a notifiable event, for example if staff sickness stops you providing care safely, or a person dies or is seriously harmed.
Yes, if the absence lasts 28 days or more. Give notice at least 28 days before a planned absence, or within 5 working days of an emergency absence, and tell CQC within 7 working days of the manager's return. Include who is in charge and how the service will be managed.
The registered person can delegate the task, but stays responsible for it. CQC expects clear and effective delegation arrangements. Provider portal accounts can be held by the nominated individual, responsible individual, registered manager or main partner, and the nominated individual can set up accounts for colleagues without a regulatory role.
It is a criminal offence. CQC can issue a fixed penalty notice of £1,250 to a provider or £625 to a registered manager for each missed notification, or prosecute, with a fine of up to £2,500 per offence. In 2017 the owners of a Liverpool care home were fined £20,800 for 13 notification offences, including not notifying ten deaths.
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