How we build the data

The source

Everything starts with the Care Quality Commission's own published data: the directory of registered locations and providers, the latest ratings, and the archive of locations that have closed or re-registered. For day-to-day changes we read the CQC's update feed. We do not scrape inspectors' reports or add opinions of our own.

How ratings work

The CQC gives a service one of four ratings: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate. It rates five things separately (is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led) and then an overall rating. Some services do not get an overall rating. Most dentists, for example, are inspected but not scored on the four-point scale, and under the CQC's newer approach a location offering several types of service can sit at "Not Rated" while its individual services are rated. We show both levels and label "Not Rated" honestly.

Rating history

When the CQC publishes a new rating, we keep the old one rather than replacing it. Over time that builds the timeline on each service's page. Today it might show a single inspection; as the years pass it fills in.

Ownership history

Care services change hands more often than people realise. We record which provider is registered to run each location, and we reconstruct changes from the CQC's registration records and its archive of closed locations, including the common case where a service quietly continues under a new registration.

People's privacy

The source data names individual managers and nominated individuals. We leave those names out. This site is about organisations and buildings, not the people who work in them.

Keeping it honest

A rating is a snapshot of one inspection and can be out of date. The CQC is also in the middle of moving to a new system, so some updates arrive late. We show the inspection date next to every rating so you can judge for yourself, and if something looks wrong you can tell us.