CQC Regulation 17 (good governance): a guide for care homes
Regulation 17 is the part of the law that asks whether a care home is well run: whether it knows how good its care is, manages its risks, and keeps proper records. This guide sets out what it requires and what that looks like day to day.
Updated 2 November 2026
What is CQC Regulation 17?
Regulation 17 (good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires providers to have systems that assess, monitor and improve quality and safety, manage risk, keep accurate, complete and contemporaneous records for each person, seek feedback, and act on it. CQC can take enforcement action when it is breached.
What does Regulation 17 require for records?
Regulation 17(2)(c) requires an accurate, complete and contemporaneous record for each person, including decisions about their care and treatment. In practice that means notes written at the time by the person who gave the care, with no gaps, kept securely and easy to find. Records about staff and the running of the home are required too.
What Regulation 17 requires
Paraphrased from the regulation itself. Read the full text on legislation.gov.uk and CQC’s guidance for the exact wording.
| The provider must | What it looks like in a care home |
|---|---|
| Assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service | Regular audits (care plans, medication, falls, infection control) with actions that are followed up |
| Assess, monitor and mitigate risks to people | Current risk assessments that change the care plan when risk changes |
| Keep an accurate, complete and contemporaneous record for each person | Notes written at the time by the person who gave the care, including decisions taken |
| Keep records about staff and the management of the service | Training, competency, supervision and governance records that are up to date |
| Seek and act on feedback from people and others | Resident, family and staff feedback, and what changed because of it |
| Evaluate and improve practice | Lessons learned from incidents and audits, shared with the team |
Why record keeping is usually where it goes wrong
Paper notes written at the end of a shift are rarely contemporaneous, gaps on MAR charts are hard to explain months later, and evidence spread across folders is slow to find in front of an inspector. Writing the record at the point of care, in one place, is the simplest way to meet the “accurate, complete and contemporaneous” standard.
Sources
- The regulation: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2936/regulation/17
- CQC guidance on Regulation 17: https://www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/regulations/regulation-17-good-governance
Frequently asked questions
- What does contemporaneous mean for care records?
- Written at the time the care was given, or as soon as possible after, by the person who gave it, rather than reconstructed later.
- Is Regulation 17 a fundamental standard?
- Yes. It is one of the fundamental standards in the 2014 Regulations, and CQC can take enforcement action when a provider breaches it.
- Does digital care software satisfy Regulation 17?
- Software can help you keep contemporaneous records and find evidence quickly, but governance (audits, oversight and acting on what you find) is the provider’s responsibility.
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