Lewis Normoyle

05-05-2025

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Why digital governance, leadership, and operational readiness are shaping CQC outcomes - and how your organisation can stay ahead with ComplyPlus™

In today’s high-pressure regulatory environment, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is placing growing emphasis on three critical areas: leadership, governance, and digital preparedness. The latest wave of inspection reports makes one thing clear – compliance is no longer just about having the right documents in place. It’s about proving, in real time, that your organisation is safe, effective, and well-led.

At The Mandatory Training Group, we support health and social care providers in translating regulatory expectations into everyday operational practice. As Chief Operations Officer, I’ve worked with hundreds of services across the UK to embed smarter compliance through ComplyPlus™ - our digital platform that supports inspection readiness, evidence-based governance, and workforce training alignment.

In this blog, Lewis Normoyle breaks down the key trends from recent CQC reports, what they mean for your service, and how ComplyPlus™ can help you avoid common pitfalls.

The CQC's evolving focus - From paperwork to proactive leadership

The CQC assesses providers against five key questions:

• Is the service safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is it caring?
• Is it responsive?
• Is it well-led?

While all five are important, “well-led” is increasingly the tipping point for inspection outcomes. Why? Because effective leadership underpins everything, from risk mitigation to culture and accountability.

In the most recent inspection cycles, services that lacked clear leadership, structured oversight, and a digital trail of compliance were far more likely to be rated “Requires Improvement” or “Inadequate.”

Four common compliance failures found in recent reports

Across both NHS and independent providers, several recurring weaknesses have emerged:

1. Weak governance and oversight

Many services had policies on paper, but no systems to implement, monitor, or review them. This left frontline teams unclear on expectations, and leadership unable to provide inspectors with documented evidence of control.

2. Poor training compliance

A consistent theme was missed statutory and mandatory training updates - sometimes due to staff turnover, but often due to a lack of central oversight. In several cases, providers were unable to produce valid certificates or up-to-date training records during inspections.

3. Outdated risk assessments

Infection prevention and control, safeguarding, fire safety, and moving and handling were some of the areas where risk assessments were either missing or outdated. Inspectors flagged this as evidence of a compliance system that was reactive rather than live and dynamic.

4. Inaction on feedback and incidents

CQC reports repeatedly noted that incidents, complaints, and staff concerns were not being followed up effectively. Where lessons weren’t documented, shared, or used to inform change, services were marked down for lacking a learning culture.

What do these findings mean for you

If your service is still relying on siloed systems, paper-based logs, or last-minute audit scrambles, these reports should serve as a wake-up call.

Regulators are looking for:

• Ongoing training oversight, not just certificates, during inspection.
• Live evidence of risk management, not historic documentation.
• Leadership involvement in governance, not just delegation.
• Systems that show how lessons are tracked, shared, and acted upon.

How ComplyPlus™ helps you meet and exceed CQC standards

At The Mandatory Training Group, we developed ComplyPlus™ to give providers the tools they need to proactively manage compliance and governance - every day, not just before an inspection:

Centralised policy and document control

Upload, assign, and version-control all key documents in one place. Ensure policies are read, acknowledged, and reviewed with full audit trails for regulators.

Real-time training oversight

Our integrated LMS tracks completion across all roles and requirements. Automated reminders and dashboards flag overdue training and upcoming deadlines – no more guesswork.

Live risk and incident management

Log, update, and review risk assessments with built-in templates. Track incidents, analyse trends, and evidence how actions are taken to prevent recurrence.

Inspection-ready evidence

ComplyPlus™ stores logs, records, and dashboards in a structured, accessible format. Whether it's a spot check or a full inspection, you’re always prepared to demonstrate control.

Leadership-level governance

Give senior teams visibility over compliance KPIs, training gaps, policy status, and incidents – all from a single dashboard. ComplyPlus™ supports the kind of oversight that defines a “well-led” service.

What high-performing services are doing differently

Among the top-rated services inspected recently, a few key traits stood out:

• Proactive leadership - Senior teams used live dashboards to track training, audits, and risks.
• Routine internal checks - Regular audits were backed by documented actions and outcomes.
• Transparent communication - Feedback, complaints, and incident responses were shared with staff and service users.
• Digital integration - Systems were streamlined, removing duplication and enabling teams to focus on quality improvement.

These providers weren’t scrambling before inspection – they were inspection-ready every day.

Preparing for your next CQC visit - Key takeaways

Whether you manage a single service or multiple sites, here’s what you should prioritise:

• Build leadership accountability - Make governance a live process, not an occasional meeting.
• Use data, not assumptions - You must be able to prove compliance, not just claim it.
• Avoid training gaps - Keep mandatory updates on track with real-time oversight.
• Treat risk as an ongoing concern - Risk management isn’t a static task; it’s a continuous responsibility.
• Create a compliance culture - Staff at all levels must understand and take ownership of their role in quality and safety.

How to turn CQC findings into a stronger, smarter compliance strategy

Regulators are clear: excellence in health and social care is built on strong leadership, digital governance, and proactive improvement. If your systems aren’t supporting you to deliver this every day, it’s time to upgrade.

ComplyPlus™ was explicitly designed for regulated organisations like yours - bringing policies, training, incidents, and audit trails into one powerful compliance ecosystem.

Whether you’re dealing with a recent inspection outcome, preparing for your next visit, or building a culture of proactive governance, ComplyPlus™ can help you take control, reduce risk, and lead with confidence.

Build inspection-ready compliance into everyday practice with ComplyPlus™

Regulators don’t just want to see evidence - they want to see control. In today’s inspection environment, proving compliance is no longer enough. You need to demonstrate that your systems are live, your leadership is informed, and your service is proactively improving.

That’s where ComplyPlus™ makes a real difference.

Purpose-built for health, social care, and education providers, ComplyPlus™ enables organisations to go beyond static policies and outdated spreadsheets. It brings together training records, policy sign-offs, incident logs, and audit trails into a single compliance ecosystem, providing leaders with complete oversight of their service every day.

When CQC reports highlight poor training compliance, missing audits, or weak oversight, ComplyPlus™ gives you the tools to respond - not just with fixes, but with confidence.

This isn’t just a platform. It’s a proactive compliance system designed to help you:

• Stay ahead of inspection requirements
• Detect gaps before they become failures
• Document leadership decisions and evidence improvements
• Strengthen culture, visibility, and accountability from the top down.

The best services aren’t reactive. They’re always ready.

Strengthen your governance. Improve your outcomes. Start with ComplyPlus™.