We announce comprehensive inspections of certain kinds of service in advance.
Find out which types of inspection we announce in advance below.
NHS acute and specialist trusts
Our programme of comprehensive inspections of NHS acute and specialist trusts has now ended. Now this is first phase is complete, we will move towards targeted inspections focused on individual services offered by providers, as well as their leadership.
These inspections will usually be unannounced. In a few instances, where there are very good reasons, we may let a service know we are coming. For example, we may contact a trust to make sure senior management are present to answer our questions.
NHS mental health trusts
Our programme of comprehensive inspections of NHS trusts has now ended. Now this is first phase is complete, we will move towards targeted inspections focused on individual services offered by providers, as well as their leadership.
These inspections will usually be unannounced. In a few instances, where there are very good reasons, we may let a service know we are coming. For example, we may contact a trust to make sure senior management are present to answer our questions.
NHS community health trusts
Our programme of comprehensive inspections of NHS trusts has now ended. Now this is first phase is complete, we will move towards targeted inspections focused on individual services offered by providers, as well as their leadership.
These inspections will usually be unannounced. In a few instances, where there are very good reasons, we may let a service know we are coming. For example, we may contact a trust to make sure senior management are present to answer our questions.
NHS ambulance service trusts
Our programme of comprehensive inspections of NHS trusts has now ended. Now this is first phase is complete, we will move towards targeted inspections focused on individual services offered by providers, as well as their leadership.
These inspections will usually be unannounced. In a few instances, where there are very good reasons, we may let a service know we are coming. For example, we may contact a trust to make sure senior management are present to answer our questions.
Specialist substance misuse services
We announce inspections for independent standalone substance misuse services.
While we don't currently give ratings to standalone substance misuse services, we plan to rate them in the future. We will continue to test the feasibility and scope of inspecting and separately rating substance misuse services offered by other providers, for example NHS trusts, GP practices and independent providers that also offer other services, with a view to rolling this out once the current inspection cycle for these providers ends. However, we will still carry out an inspection of substance misuse services delivered by these providers if risks are identified.
NHS GP practices and GP out-of-hours services
Inspections are usually announced. We feel that this is the most appropriate way to make sure our inspections do not disrupt the care provided to people.
We will announce which clinical commissioning groups (CCG) area we are visiting at least four weeks before we start to inspect practices in that area.
Adult social care services
Residential adult social care services
Our inspections will usually be unannounced. In a few instances, where there are very good reasons, we may let the provider know we are coming. For example, we may contact small homes to check that people are home before setting off to inspect.
Community adult social care services
Inspections of community adult social care services may be announced or unannounced. This includes domiciliary care agencies, shared lives schemes and supported living services.
Our team will consider a range of factors when deciding whether to announce the inspection to the provider.
These include (but are not limited to):
- the size of the service
- the way the service is arranged
- the characteristics of people using the service
- the methods we plan to use to gather evidence.
Where we do announce an inspection, we do not normally give more than 48 hours notice.
Hospice services
Our inspections for inpatient hospices will usually be unannounced. In a few instances, where there are very good reasons, we may let the provider know we are coming. We usually announce inspections of community-based hospice services and day hospices 48 hours in advance. This is so that we can be sure the manager or a senior person in charge is available on the day we plan to visit.
Note: This information should be used as a guide only. Details are subject to change.