The Care Quality Commission (CQC)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care services in England. Its role is to monitor, inspect and regulate services, helping to ensure that people receive safe, effective, compassionate and high-quality care. The CQC also encourages providers to improve their services over time.
The CQC regulates a wide range of healthcare services across England, including hospitals, dental practices, clinics and other providers that carry out regulated healthcare activities. Providers that fall within the scope of CQC regulation must meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. The CQC publishes its findings so that members of the public can make informed decisions when choosing healthcare services.
Why CQC Matters in Aesthetics
The aesthetics sector includes a broad range of treatments, from beauty services that do not require healthcare regulation through to medical aesthetic procedures performed by qualified healthcare professionals. Certain treatments and activities may require CQC registration where they fall within regulated healthcare services.
For prospective patients, a CQC registration and rating can provide additional reassurance that a provider is subject to independent oversight. CQC assessments focus on the quality and safety of care and help patients compare providers across England.
Understanding CQC Ratings
Where a service has been assessed, the CQC assigns one of four ratings:
Outstanding
Good
Requires Improvement
Inadequate
These ratings help the public understand how a service is performing and make it easier to compare providers.
CQC Statuses Used on our Aesthetics Directory
Alongside official CQC ratings, our Aesthetics Directory may display the following statuses where appropriate:
Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
Outstanding | Official CQC rating. The service is performing exceptionally well. |
Good | Official CQC rating. The service is performing well and meeting expectations. |
Requires Improvement | Official CQC rating. The service must make improvements in one or more areas. |
Inadequate | Official CQC rating. The service is performing poorly and significant improvements are required. |
Not Rated | The provider is registered with the CQC, but a rating is not currently available or has not yet been published. |
Verification Pending | We are currently verifying the provider's CQC registration status or rating information. |
N/A | CQC registration does not apply to this provider or the services listed. |
Please note: Only Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement and Inadequate are official Care Quality Commission ratings. The other statuses are used by The Aesthetics Directory to provide additional context where a formal CQC rating is unavailable or not applicable.
Why We Have Added a CQC Rating Field
At The Aesthetic Directory, we believe patients should have access to clear, transparent information when researching clinics and practitioners.
To support this, we have introduced a dedicated CQC Rating field on eligible listings. This allows visitors to quickly identify whether a provider is registered with the Care Quality Commission and, where applicable, view their latest published rating.
Our aim is not to replace the CQC's own reports or assessments. Instead, we want to make important regulatory information easier to find while helping patients make more informed decisions when comparing aesthetic providers.
Where a clinic is not required to be registered with the CQC, the field will display N/A. Patients should always consider a range of factors when choosing a provider, including qualifications, experience, professional memberships, treatment suitability and consultation processes.
Important Information
The Care Quality Commission regulates healthcare services in England only. Providers operating elsewhere in the UK may be regulated by different organisations.
The Aesthetics Directory encourages all patients to verify information directly with the provider and consult the official CQC website for the latest inspection reports and regulatory information.