The Care Quality Commission’s regulatory overhaul has been years in the making, but 2026 is the year the changes truly land in primary care. For GP surgeries, PCNs and ICSs, the new model represents a fundamental shift: from episodic inspections to continuous assessment, from process‑checking to patient experience, and from isolated practice oversight to system‑wide accountability. Our Primary Care Correspondent gives his take.

In this monthly report, FPM looks in detail at what the CQC have publicly reported from their GP practice inspections during June 2026, all anonymised. We highlight some of the behaviours that won practices Outstanding ratings, and the reasons some practices were scored Requires Improvement, or Inadequate. Do you recognise any of the observations the CQC picked up, either good or bad?

In this monthly report, FPM looks in detail at what the CQC have publicly reported from their GP practice inspections during May 2026, all anonymised. We highlight some of the behaviours that won practices Outstanding ratings, and the reasons some practices were scored Requires Improvement, or Inadequate. Do you recognise any of the observations the CQC picked up, either good or bad?

In this monthly report, FPM looks in detail at what the CQC have publicly reported from their GP practice inspections during April 2026, all anonymised. We highlight some of the behaviours that won practices Outstanding ratings, and the reasons some practices were scored Requires Improvement, or Inadequate. Do you recognise any of the observations the CQC picked up, either good or bad?

A new assessment programme from the CQC started in March 2026 and will target so-called "lower risk practice" who are good or outstanding and were last inspected between 2017 and 2022. FPM explains how this works.

On March 25th, the CQC gave an official response to the 1,700 responses that providers had given in their 'Better Regulation, Better Care' consultation, which closed in December 2025. They are proposing to return to some measures which had previously been used by the CQC but had been abandoned in favour of the Single Assessment Framework. Share your views through the CQC's online survey by 12 June.

In this monthly report, FPM looks in detail at what the CQC have publicly reported from their GP practice inspections during March 2026, all anonymised. We highlight some of the behaviours that won practices Outstanding ratings, and the reasons some practices were scored Requires Improvement, or Inadequate. Do you recognise any of the observations the CQC picked up, either good or bad?

In this monthly report, FPM looks in detail at what the CQC have publicly reported from their GP practice inspections during February 2026. Only the most notable/useful comments are selected for readers from amongst thousands. We highlight some of the behaviours that won practices Outstanding ratings, and the reasons some practices were scored Requires Improvement, or Inadequate. Do you recognise any of the observations the CQC picked up, either good or bad?

If you work in general practice, you’ll know that some days feel like juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle… on a treadmill. We’re expected to deliver excellent patient care, manage teams, stay compliant, keep morale up, and still find time for “strategic planning.” PCN and Practice Manager Tom Hewitt explains how just two areas quietly make or break a practice...

In this monthly report, FPM looks in detail at what the CQC have publicly reported from some of their GP practice inspections during January 2025. Only the most notable/useful comments are selected for readers from amongst thousands. We highlight some of the behaviours that won practices Outstanding ratings, and the reasons some practices were scored Requires Improvement, or Inadequate. Do you recognise any of the observations the CQC picked up, either good or bad?