Governance and Quality
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First-48-hours action checklist

First-48-hours action checklist

(what to do immediately)

  1. Identify the notice type & deadlines (log the service date)
  • Warning Notice: you have 10 working days to make written representations. No tribunal appeal—representations only. Care Quality Commission+2Care Quality Commission+2
  • Notice of Proposal / Notice of Decision: you have 28 calendar days to make written representations (HSCA 2008 s27). Email route and “day of service” rules are set by CQC (email = next working day; post = +3 days). Care Quality Commission+1
  • Section 29A (NHS trusts): requires significant quality improvements; treat as an organisational incident with board-level oversight. Care Quality Commission
  1. Stabilise care & safety today
  • Run a rapid risk sweep on all areas cited, put immediate mitigations in place, and document who did what/when.
  • If risk is material, pause the activity until safe to resume (record rationale).
  1. Set governance & comms
  • Appoint a Senior Responsible Owner and a single point of contact.
  • Brief Board/partners, update risk register, and align internal/external comms (staff, commissioners, families).
  • Check if any statutory notifications are triggered by underlying incidents. Care Quality Commission
  1. Build the evidence pack
  • Create a dated repository: inspection evidence, corrective actions, policies, training logs, audits, photos, and patient/service-user outcomes.
  • Map each action to the specific Regulation/KSF issue the CQC cited.
  1. Draft your representation (if applicable)
  • Structure: Context → Factual accuracy → Legal/regulatory points → Proportionality → Actions taken → Time-bound plan → Annexed evidence.
  • Submit within the deadline and retain CQC acknowledgement (email receipts etc.). For Warning Notices, submit within 10 working days; for NOP/NOD, 28 calendar days. Care Quality Commission+1
  1. Execute a 30/60/90-day improvement plan
  • Convert each breach into SMART actions, owners, evidence, and review dates aligned to CQC’s enforcement policy. Care Quality Commission

How Turnaround Consultants helps

  • Rapid triage & risk containment (same day): decode the notice, set the critical path, and script internal comms.
  • Representation drafting & QA: we prepare your written representations and evidence annexes against the correct legal tests and timescales. Care Quality Commission+1
  • Evidence & audit build-out: create a clean, inspector-ready trail mapped to each Regulation/KSF point.
  • Improvement programme: 30/60/90-day plan, internal audits, and board reporting aligned to the CQC enforcement policy. Care Quality Commission

If you want, I can turn this into a branded 1-page PDF “CQC Notice Response Card” (with your logo, contact, and deadlines) and a simple representations template you can give to leads.