Guide
The 14 CQC regulated activities, in plain English
Updated
Registration turns entirely on whether what you do is a 'regulated activity'. There are exactly fourteen, and they are defined in law, not by CQC discretion.
The list, from Schedule 1
- Personal care, physical assistance (or prompting with supervision) with washing, dressing, toileting, eating and medication, mainly in people's own homes.
- Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, care homes, with or without nursing.
- Accommodation for persons who require treatment for substance misuse.
- Treatment of disease, disorder or injury, the broad clinical activity covering GPs, hospitals and many private clinics.
- Assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.
- Surgical procedures, including cosmetic surgery and hair transplants.
- Diagnostic and screening procedures, imaging, endoscopy, pathology sampling and similar.
- Management of supply of blood and blood-derived products.
- Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely, including ambulance services and clinical phone/online triage.
- Maternity and midwifery services.
- Termination of pregnancies.
- Services in slimming clinics, where medicines are prescribed for weight reduction.
- Nursing care, nursing provided outside the other activities.
- Family planning services, fitting and removal of intrauterine devices and similar.
The full legal text, including the exceptions attached to each activity, is in Schedule 1 of the 2014 Regulations. The exceptions matter: several activities carve out services provided by specific professions or in specific settings, which is why borderline cases should be checked against CQC's scope-of-registration guidance rather than the headline list alone.
Common services that fall outside
- Cleaning, cooking, shopping and other domestic help.
- Companionship and sitting services with no personal care.
- Genuine introduction-only agencies for self-employed carers.
- Most purely cosmetic, non-surgical treatments without prescribing.
- Care provided unpaid by family or friends, and personal assistants employed directly by the person.
In or out is decided by what is actually done day to day, not by what the contract calls it. If your workers end up helping with washing or medication, you are providing personal care whatever the service agreement says.