05 Nov 2024
by Policy, Practice and Innovation Team
The Care Quality Commission is making changes to the way providers register, to resolve issues faced by providers signing up and using the new provider portal. 

Changes to registration process

From 18 November, CQC will no longer be accepting any type of registration applications from the provider portal, other than cancellation applications. Instead, applications must be made using the application form on CQC’s website.

CQC’s guidance for providers is:
 
  • If you have already submitted an application using the provider portal and it has been validated and accepted by the Registration team, you do not need to resubmit it. Your application is now in the queue to be assessed.
  • If you have submitted an application using the provider portal, but you have not yet received confirmation from the Registration team, CQC will be contacting you within the next few weeks to confirm that your application has been forwarded for assessment. If there is a problem with your application, CQC will contact you with instructions on how to resubmit it. You won’t be put to the back of the queue.
  • If you have only completed part of your application on the provider portal, you will need to complete and submit this by 5pm on 18 November. This includes both provider and manager parts of the application, if this applies to you.
CQC say applications will still be approved or refused based on the outcome of the registration assessment as usual, and CQC will continue to assess applications in date order, so this won’t have an impact on timeframes. If you would like an update on the status of your application, please contact CQC in the normal way.

From 18 November, the provider portal can still be used to submit some notifications and submit registration cancellations. To see what activity can be completed on the portal, please see the provider portal pages on CQC’s website.

Improving CQC’s registration process 

CQC say, on delays to registration:

“We know that you may have concerns around the backlog of registration applications. We are working hard to proactively manage the backlog of registration applications and are now making good progress in reducing both the overall number of applications still to process and the average time they have been with us.

We are tackling the backlog from several angles. This includes a large active recruitment drive for additional registration inspectors, streamlining internal registration processes, a strategy that targets specific sectors, and continuing to use the prioritisation process, which is described on our website.”

Source: CQC’s update on registration, 4 November 2024.
 

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