Service
Inspection preparation
A rehearsal that looks at practice, records and leadership the way an inspector will.
Inspection preparation is a structured look at the service before the regulator does. For children’s homes we use the social care common inspection framework as the map: the experiences and progress of children, how well children are helped and protected, and the effectiveness of leaders and managers.
For CQC-regulated supported living we use the five key questions in the framework that applies at the time. A mock inspection produces findings. It does not produce a grade, and it is not a forecast of the grade you will receive.
Who it is for
- Homes that have not been inspected for a while.
- New managers who want to see the service through an inspector’s questions.
- Providers who have fixed the last requirements and want to know whether the fixes have held.
What it addresses
- The manager knows the weaknesses and has not had time to test them.
- Evidence lives in four places and cannot be shown in an afternoon.
- Staff freeze when asked a direct question about safeguarding.
- The last action plan was closed on a spreadsheet and not in practice.
How the work runs
- Scope We agree the lines of enquiry, the children or adults whose records we will sample, and who needs to be available.
- Review Records, rotas, supervision, recruitment files, incidents, complaints, and the quality review the regulations expect.
- Talk Short conversations with the manager and available staff. We do not stage-manage children.
- Report Findings written as an inspector might pursue them, each with the evidence we saw.
- Prioritise What to do before a visit is announced, and what can wait. Improvement planning picks this up if the list is long.
What you need in place
- Access to records and to the registered manager on the day.
- Honesty about known problems. Hiding them from us wastes the day.
- A quiet room and the statement of purpose.
What you leave with
- A written mock-inspection report.
- A priority list: act now, act soon, watch.
- Questions the manager should be able to answer without notes.
Overall effectiveness judgements for children’s homes of all types. Ofsted’s accessible data for Figure 4 lists 3,630 in brackets.
Time and fees
There is no standard duration. The regulator, the planning authority and the condition of the service all change the timetable. We will describe what we can see, and we will not promise a date.
The fee is agreed once we understand the work. A short review and a full registration are different assignments, so we do not publish one price for every enquiry.
Questions
Will you tell us the grade we will get?
No. We will tell you what we found and how it sits against the framework. The judgement is made by the inspector on the evidence of their visit.
Do you coach staff to recite answers?
We help staff understand the service they work in. Scripted answers fall apart, and inspectors are used to hearing them.
Can you do this for a notice we have already received?
If the findings are already written, you need an improvement plan and, if there is a legal deadline, advice on that deadline. A mock inspection can still test whether the improvements are real.
Next step
If you do not yet know what is wrong, start with compliance troubleshooting. If you know, and you want it tested, book a mock inspection.
Talk to FivewaysRelated
Fiveways Advisory is an independent consultancy. We are not Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission or a local planning authority, and this website is not legal, planning or regulatory advice. We cannot guarantee registration, an inspection judgement or planning permission.