Statutory notifications procedure checklist

Who this statutory notifications checklist is for

This checklist is for registered managers, nominated individuals, notification leads and governance reviewers in small CQC-regulated providers. It helps the service test whether deaths, serious injuries, safeguarding concerns, police involvement, service interruptions, registration changes and other possible CQC notification triggers leave a clear decision trail.

Use it when the operational question is not just "did we notify CQC?", but "can we show how we recognised the trigger, checked the current route, made the decision, submitted where required and kept evidence?" It is useful for monthly governance, incident review, safeguarding review, complaint review, mock inspection preparation and pre-inspection readiness checks.

This checklist should sit alongside the CQC statutory notifications policy, CQC statutory notifications lifecycle page, registered manager notifications guide, CQC notification forms article, incident reporting procedure, safeguarding adults procedure, duty of candour procedure and governance meeting records.

How to use this checklist

Use this checklist to audit whether the service recognises possible CQC statutory notification triggers, makes a recorded decision, submits through the current route and keeps evidence. It can be used monthly, after serious incidents, before governance review, or before an inspection-readiness review.

CQC notification timescales depend on the type of notification, so do not use one universal deadline. Check the current CQC page or form for each category. The service should record the event date, identification date, decision date and submission evidence.

For each row, record:

Met: evidence is current and complete.
Part met: evidence exists but has a gap or needs follow-up.
Not met: evidence is absent or the control is not working.
Not applicable: the service does not carry out this activity.

Every Part met or Not met item should create an action with an owner and due date.

The PDF is designed for printing, or for completing on screen with a PDF viewer's Fill & Sign, Markup or comment tools. Use those tools to tick boxes and type into the lines.

Service details

Field	Local entry
Service name
Location
Date completed
Completed by
Registered Manager
Notification Lead
Period reviewed
Number of notification decisions sampled

1. Local notification map

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Local notification map lists categories relevant to the regulated activities.	Notification map, statement of purpose, registration details.
Each category names the current CQC route, form or portal route.	Notification map, CQC source check.
Each category names required timing from current CQC guidance.	Notification map, CQC guidance review date.
Owner and deputy are named for each category.	Role list, procedure, rota.
Out-of-hours escalation route exists for serious events.	On-call procedure, staff briefing.
Staff know not to rely on old saved CQC forms without checking current guidance.	Staff interview, procedure.

2. Trigger recognition

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Incidents are screened for notification triggers.	Incident sample, notification decision.
Complaints are screened for notification triggers.	Complaint sample, notification decision.
Safeguarding concerns are screened for notification triggers.	Safeguarding sample, notification decision.
Deaths are considered against current CQC death-notification guidance.	Death record, notification decision.
Serious injury, abuse, police involvement and service disruption are considered where relevant.	Event sample, decision note.
Provider, registered manager, nominated individual and statement-of-purpose changes are tracked.	Registration change log, board or governance record.
Deprivation of liberty, detained patient absence or other specialist categories are mapped where relevant.	Service-specific map, legal or clinical advice.

3. Decision records

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Every possible notification has a recorded decision.	Notification register, source record sample.
Decision record shows event date, identification date and decision date.	Decision record.
Decision record names the category considered.	Decision record, local map.
Not-applicable decisions explain why the threshold was not met.	Not-applicable closure sample.
Borderline decisions show Registered Manager or senior review.	Review note, governance record.
Advice from CQC, safeguarding, commissioners or specialists is stored where obtained.	Advice note, email, call log.

4. Submission evidence

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Submitted notifications show category, route, submitter and submission date.	Notification record, confirmation.
Reference numbers, portal confirmations, PDFs or email receipts are saved.	Evidence attachment, file store.
Submitted wording matches the source record and is factual.	Source record, submitted copy.
Personal information is limited to what the CQC route requires.	Submitted copy, redaction note.
CQC follow-up requests have owners and due dates.	Follow-up log, task list.
Updates or corrections preserve the original decision trail.	Update record, correction note.

5. Missed or late notification handling

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Missed or late notifications are recorded as governance issues.	Incident, governance minute, action log.
Root cause is reviewed rather than only submitting late.	Review note, action plan.
CQC is updated where current guidance or advice requires it.	Submission evidence, advice note.
Staff are briefed after missed or late notification learning.	Briefing record, training update.
The local notification map is updated after threshold or route learning.	Map change log, review date.

6. Governance review

Check	Evidence to review	Status	Action owner	Due date
Notifications and not-applicable decisions are reviewed at governance.	Governance report, minutes.
Review compares source records with notification decisions.	Audit sample, incident and complaint sample.
Themes are linked to incidents, complaints, safeguarding, risk and duty of candour.	Cross-linked records, theme report.
Outstanding follow-up and overdue actions are visible to the Registered Manager.	Dashboard, action log, governance pack.
Role-appropriate notification training is current.	Training matrix, induction records.

7. Summary judgement

Question	Answer
Which notification categories apply most often to this service?
Which category is most likely to be missed?
Where are not-applicable decisions stored?
Who reviews borderline decisions?
What would a CQC inspector see if they asked for notification evidence today?

8. Action log

Action	Source check	Owner	Due date	Completion evidence

9. Completion

Sign-off	Name	Date
Completed by
Reviewed by Registered Manager

This checklist is a working tool. It does not replace live regulator guidance, CQC forms, the service's own notification procedure, safeguarding advice, legal advice or professional judgement.

Source anchors

This checklist is a starting point and a guide to what inspectors look for. It is not a complete or deployable procedure, and it is not legal advice. Working through it does not guarantee a rating or compliance. Check all regulatory references and timescales against current primary sources and adapt it to your own service.