If the CQC is proposing to take civil enforcement action without following an urgent process, then they will serve a Notice of Proposal on the registered provider.

This gives the provider notice of the action that the CQC is proposing to take. Commonly this is either to impose conditions on the registration or to close the home.

The Notice of Proposal is therefore most likely to be one of the following:

  1. Notice of Proposal to prevent future admissions without the consent of the CQC
  2. Notice of Proposal to remove one of the registered activities
  3. Notice of Proposal to remove the location from the provider’s registration (i.e. in effect to close the unit)
  4. More recently, Notices of Proposal to impose positive conditions, such as the provision of information regularly to the CQC

Where the CQC serves a Notice of Proposal, it is done pursuant to the Health and Social Act 2008. The registered provider then has 28 days to make representations to the CQC setting out why it is alleged that the proposal should not be adopted by the CQC.

It is clearly important that providers take the opportunity to make these representations and to make them as full and detailed as possible. If the CQC then decides to proceed with the proposal, those representations are likely to form the basis of an appeal by the provider to the First Tier Tribunal.

If an appeal is made (within 28 days of the Notice of Decision by the CQC to uphold the NOP) the proposal does not take effect until the conclusion of the tribunal process.