Free tools, specialist consultancy and governance support for CQC-regulated adult social care providers — built by someone who has spent 20 years doing this from the inside.
Clarity. Confidence. Better care.
The Homecare Association's June 2026 report is blunt: 83.5% of community social care services have either never been assessed or hold a rating four to ten years old, and the number with a current rating has more than halved in two years. CQC has fixed registration — the backlog is gone and the bar is high — but the existing market is largely unseen.
For providers this cuts two ways. If you're registering a new service, only around 6% of homecare applications now make it through — a weak pack is a wasted one. If you already run a service, you may be one of the 83.5%, and providers are being suspended from council tenders simply for holding no current rating. The shift: assessment activity is rising again, and CQC is now prioritising long-unassessed and aged-rating services — so being genuinely ready matters more than it has in years.
One honest note: a self-assessment is never a substitute for a CQC rating. Use the free tools below to get ready, and to build evidence you can share alongside your regulatory position — not instead of it.
No account. No sign-up. No charge — ever. Open them, use them, share them with your team.
Rate your care home across all five key questions — Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, Well-Led. Traffic light dashboard, AI-generated inspector narrative, action plan and PDF export. Aligned to SAF v9 2024.
Six-step decision support tool for frontline staff and managers. Instantly identifies whether an event is an incident, a concern, or a safeguarding — with recommended actions, regulation citations and a printable decision record.
A plain-English briefing on what's changing at CQC — what's going, what's staying, the timeline, and what to do now. Pick your setting and current rating for a tailored summary you can act on this week.
Turn your incident log into an active learning loop — spot the trends, find the root cause, track the fix, and prove it worked at the 30-day re-review. Works across all nine care settings, with an inspector-ready learning story built in.
Registering a new service or a new manager? RAG-rated readiness, a Statement of Purpose builder, mandatory document tracker, fit-person interview prep and a submission-day checklist — built for CQC's tougher 2026 front door, where most applications are now refused.
A plain-English briefing on the 2026 judgment that reset the deprivation of liberty test — what changed, who it affects, and the practical steps for your service. No legal jargon, just what you need to do now.
From 19 June 2026, every care provider must have a formal process for handling data protection complaints. This 2-minute check shows what you need in place — and exactly where your gaps are — before the deadline.
The full ECC Governance Compliance Suite — 34 connected tools covering workforce, care quality, safety, governance and CQC registration, all under one secure login — is now live. Sign up below to get started.
I spent over 20 years working in CQC-regulated adult social care — managing multi-site services, leading regional teams, mobilising integrated care programmes, and helping managers turn around services that were struggling. I know what a CQC inspection feels like from the inside, and I know what good governance actually looks like in practice — not just on paper.
I founded Elizabeth Care Consulting to make that experience accessible to care providers who need practical, honest support — not jargon, not box-ticking, not a 200-page report that sits in a drawer. The free tools exist because I believe every manager should have access to good compliance support regardless of budget.
Based in Havant, Hampshire. Available nationally.
Practical, senior-level support for care providers who need more than a template.
Mock inspections, gap analysis, evidence frameworks and action plans aligned to the Single Assessment Framework. Practical prep, not theory.
Building or strengthening governance infrastructure — audits, risk registers, incident frameworks, policy review and quality assurance cycles.
Specialist support for services requiring improvement. Achievable compliance plans with measurable outcomes, typically within 3–6 months.
Supporting registered managers and deputies to build the skills and confidence to lead their services through regulation and beyond.
Induction programmes, training matrices, Care Certificate alignment and competency sign-off — all built around what CQC actually looks for.
End-to-end support for new CQC registrations and service launches — governance, policies, workforce and compliance frameworks from day one.
34 connected compliance tools in one platform. One login. One place for everything your service needs to evidence safe, effective, well-led care.
£49/month per CQC-registered service. Early-adopter places are open now — sign up and get started today.
Sign up to the Governance Suite →A focused 60-minute session with Liz West. We look at where your service stands against the CQC Single Assessment Framework, identify your key gaps, and agree a practical action plan you can start using straight away.
A free white paper on leading inspection-ready care through CQC's reform — and the governance that makes it real. Read it online or download the PDF.
Read the free white paper →To make high-quality governance accessible to every care provider by creating a single, connected platform that simplifies compliance, strengthens culture, and reduces workload — all at a fair, transparent cost.
We exist to remove complexity, eliminate duplication, and give managers and staff the tools they need to deliver safe, effective and well-led care without being overwhelmed by systems, paperwork or cost barriers.
To become the default governance ecosystem for small and medium care providers — a unified platform where induction, supervision, training, incidents, audits, evidence and quality improvement all live in one place.
These values guide every tool, every workflow, every design decision, and every conversation.
Elizabeth Care Consulting is registered with the UK's data protection regulator and holds appropriate business insurance — so your information, and your service, are in safe hands.
Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under the UK data protection fee, and committed to handling your personal data lawfully and securely.
Elizabeth Care Consulting holds professional indemnity and public liability insurance through Simply Business, giving clients confidence in every engagement.
The platform is incredibly easy to navigate, packed with editable audits, and covers every area I need to ensure I am running a safe, compliant, and effective home. A huge well done to Elizabeth West for creating something we have all been searching for — and finally bringing it together in one place. This will undoubtedly make my job as a Quality Assurance Manager easier and far more streamlined.
— Quality Assurance Manager, registered care providerWhether you need help preparing for inspection, strengthening governance, or just want to talk through a challenge — I'm here.
I built these tools because I spent 20 years watching good managers struggle with CQC compliance — not because they were bad at their jobs, but because the support available was either too expensive, too generic, or too far removed from the reality of running a care service.
— Liz West, Founder, Elizabeth Care ConsultingElizabeth Care Consulting is committed to protecting your personal data and being transparent about how we use it. This notice explains what we collect, why, and your rights. It applies to our website, our enquiries and consultancy services, and our Governance Compliance Suite software.
Elizabeth Care Consulting is a sole trader providing CQC compliance consultancy and governance software to health and social care providers. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this notice.
We do not seek to collect special category data (such as health data) through our website or general enquiries.
Our Governance Compliance Suite tools store the information you enter locally in your own browser (and, where the platform integration is enabled, within your own platform account). That data is not transmitted to or accessed by Elizabeth Care Consulting through the tools themselves. You remain the controller of any personal or special category data you record in them.
Where a consultancy engagement requires us to access personal data your organisation controls, we act under a separate written agreement (a data processing agreement). This notice does not replace that agreement.
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|---|---|
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| Providing consultancy and software services | Contract |
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We do not sell your data. We may share it with trusted service providers who help us operate (such as our email, website hosting and accounting providers, acting on our instructions), and with regulators or authorities where we are legally required to do so.
Where a service provider processes data outside the UK, we ensure an appropriate safeguard is in place — such as UK adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses.
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures, including access controls, multi-factor authentication where available, reputable cloud services, device encryption and up-to-date software.
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You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, object to, and port your personal data, and to withdraw consent at any time. To exercise these rights, email liz@elizabethcareconsulting.co.uk. We will respond within one month.
If you have a concern about how we handle your data, please contact us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk · 0303 123 1113.
For any question about this notice or your personal data, contact Elizabeth West at liz@elizabethcareconsulting.co.uk.