Guide
GP and primary care CQC compliance: policies, procedures and guidance
A GP practice is judged on a high volume of prescribing, vaccines, results and referrals, with a small team that has to show it learns from significant events. This guide gathers the policies, procedure checklists, regulations and articles a practice has to get right, in one place.
What CQC weighs in general practice
General practice is inspected under the same five key questions as every CQC-registered service, but a GP practice carries a distinct evidence weight: high patient volume, a great deal of prescribing, vaccines and cold chain, and results and referrals that must not fall through the gaps.
That puts weight on safe prescribing and high-risk drug monitoring, vaccination and cold chain, safeguarding in primary care, significant event analysis, information governance, and the duty of candour when something goes wrong. The materials below are organised around that evidence trail.
Start with the guidance
Reads that frame what inspectors actually look for in primary care.
CQC controlled drugs 2025
What CQC controlled drugs 2025 means for provider evidence: private prescribing, ADHD medicines, communication, monitoring and governance review.
Vaccine storage and cold chain compliance
Vaccine storage looks like a fridge check until something goes wrong. The cold-chain governance and evidence CQC expects from a practice that stores or administers vaccines.
The GP who hid from me
An ex-CQC inspector on the fear of inspection, and what actually changes when a team knows what to expect. Drawn from thirteen years of inspections.
Policies for general practice
6 sample policies written for GP practices and primary care. Each is a starting point to adapt to your service, roles and local arrangements, not a document to adopt unchanged.
- GP
Cross-sector handover and shared-care prescribing policy (gp)
Verivius sample template for cross-provider handover and shared-care prescribing, anchored to Regulation 12(2)(i) on shared responsibility. Adapt to your practice.
- GP
Patient data and information governance policy (gp)
Sample primary-care information governance template mapping UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and Caldicott onto Regulation 17. Tailor it before adoption.
- GP
GP safe prescribing and high-risk medicines policy template
Example GP policy template for safe prescribing, repeat medicines, high-risk drug monitoring, controlled drugs and prescribing incidents in primary care.
- GP
Safeguarding policy (primary care) (gp)
How a GP practice can meet Regulation 13 safeguarding: a Verivius sample template covering children, adults at risk, FGM reporting and Prevent. An example to adopt.
- GP
Significant event analysis policy (gp)
Sample GP significant event analysis template under Regulation 17, with the Regulation 20 duty of candour trigger. Records and closes safety events. Edit to fit.
- GP
Vaccination and cold chain policy (gp)
Vaccination and cold-chain sample template under Regulation 12 and the UKHSA Green Book chapter 3. Covers fridge failure and Yellow Card reporting. Adapt before use.
Checklists
Audit and readiness checklists to self-check a single area before an inspection.
- Reg 12
Primary care prescribing and medicines audit checklist
A GP and clinic audit checklist for safe prescribing, PGDs, high-risk drug monitoring, controlled drugs, antimicrobial stewardship and cold chain.
- Reg 12
Vaccine storage and cold chain checklist
A cold-chain audit checklist for small CQC-regulated services that store or administer vaccines, mapped to what an inspector looks for.
The general checklists (infection control, safeguarding, incidents, consent, complaints) apply to primary care too. Browse the full checklist library.
The regulations that carry the most weight
The standards a practice is most often tested against, each with the duty quoted from the primary source.
Regulation 9: person-centred care
Care shaped around the patient, evidenced in the record.
Regulation 12: safe care and treatment
Safe care: prescribing, high-risk drug monitoring, cold chain.
Regulation 13: safeguarding
Recognising and referring safeguarding concerns in primary care.
Regulation 17: good governance
Significant event analysis and the records that show learning.
Regulation 20: duty of candour
Being open and honest with patients when something goes wrong.
Statutory notifications
What CQC has to be told about, and when.
See the primary care setup in your practice
The policies and checklists are free to download and adapt. Verivius loads the primary care content into your account from day one, so prescribing safety, vaccination and cold chain, significant event analysis, safeguarding and CQC notifications sit in one structured trail. A Verivius consultant (an ex-CQC inspector) can also work through any of this with you against the live regulation and your service shape.
Free to start, no card. A 14-day trial when you subscribe.
Last reviewed 14 July 2026