Compliance & regulation
Single Assessment Framework
CQC Single Assessment Framework (SAF)
Also known as: SAF, CQC assessment framework
The approach the CQC uses to assess quality across all the services it regulates, built around quality statements under the five key questions.
The Single Assessment Framework is the way the Care Quality Commission assesses quality, phased in from 2023. It keeps the five key questions (is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led) but expresses expectations as short "quality statements" written from the provider's point of view.
Evidence for each quality statement is grouped into a defined set of evidence categories, such as feedback from people using the service, feedback from staff, observations, and processes. The framework replaces the earlier provider handbooks and Key Lines of Enquiry.
Why it matters for care homes
The framework changes how evidence is organised and presented at assessment. Homes that keep structured, retrievable evidence against each quality statement find assessments far less stressful.
Related guides
See how Revitaco supports Single Assessment Framework
Care home management software designed to help you evidence CQC compliance, manage medicines, and keep person-centred records.