15 June 2026 · CareTime
The Care Quality Commission's consultation on the new adult social care assessment framework closed on 12 June 2026. The CQC will now review responses from providers, industry bodies, and individuals before publishing the final framework in summer 2026. Pilots will run alongside. Implementation — meaning inspectors actively using the new adult social care framework during assessments — is expected toward the end of 2026.
That creates a three-to-four month window between now and the new framework going live. For care home managers, the question is straightforward: what should you be doing during that window?
The honest answer: very little changes urgently for most homes. But the homes that use this window well will find inspection evidence easier to produce when it comes to it.
The new adult social care framework replaces the Single Assessment Framework with a structure built around 24 Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs) across the five quality questions — Safe (6), Effective (6), Caring (3), Responsive (4), and Well-Led (5). Numerical scoring is removed; inspectors will use published Rating Characteristics to form their judgement.
Two changes are most significant for how care homes should think about their evidence:
Well-Led carries the most weight. Five of the 24 KLOEs fall under Well-Led — more than any other quality question. Inspectors will look for ongoing governance and oversight of risk, performance, and outcomes. That is not the same as a thick policy folder. It is a regular, dated, factual record that shows management knows what is happening in their home day to day.
Responsive gains a new KLOE on listening to feedback. "Listening to and responding to feedback" becomes its own named KLOE under Responsive. This is new. Providers who can show a structured, regular record of how family feedback reaches management — and what happened as a result — will be better placed than those relying on annual surveys or complaint logs alone.
The Well-Led KLOEs describe "ongoing oversight of risk, performance, and outcomes." For a smaller home, this does not mean a monthly governance report. It means a consistent, dated record that shows management is aware of what is happening.
A daily call summary email is one version of this — it creates a dated, searchable record of communications activity without requiring additional admin. Built consistently from June onwards, by autumn you have 16 weeks of evidence. By December you have had the habit in place before the new framework implementation began.
Whatever format you choose, the value is the same: a dated, retrievable record that shows regular oversight rather than retrospective assembly.
The new Responsive KLOE asks specifically how feedback is gathered and what happened next. If you are not already capturing family calls in a structured way, this summer is a good time to start.
Audit what evidence you already have — incoming call logs, message books, resident meeting notes, GP communication records — and ask whether it is dated, named, and recoverable at short notice. An inspector will ask to see evidence of responsiveness. A log of actual calls and messages, with dates, is cleaner than "staff are aware of family concerns."
The CQC is committed to 9,000 adult social care assessments in its current operating year. Inspection activity is high throughout summer 2026. Some inspections in this period will still be conducted under the current Single Assessment Framework; from autumn 2026 onwards, inspectors may use the new adult social care KLOEs.
It is worth looking at your most recent inspection report and identifying which quality questions had lower scores or specific inspector comments. The new framework retains the five quality questions (Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive, Well-Led) so the areas of weakness from your last inspection are likely to remain relevant.
The draft framework was relatively quiet on what digital evidence looks like. The final version, informed by provider feedback from the consultation, is likely to be more explicit. Most care homes now use a combination of digital care records, rostering software, incident platforms, and communication tools. Before an inspector visits, it is worth checking that records from these systems are: dated, recoverable by date range, and attributable to a named person or event.
If any of your evidence lives in an email inbox or a paper log, consider whether it would hold up to scrutiny if requested at short notice.
When the final adult social care framework publishes — expected this summer — we will review the specific language on the Responsive listening KLOE and the five Well-Led KLOEs, and update our guidance on what evidence inspectors will accept under each one.
CareTime's Silent Guard already provides the kind of ongoing, dated, factual oversight record that the Well-Led KLOEs describe — a Morning Brief that lands in the registered manager's inbox each morning, covering every incoming call with date, time, and outcome. It requires no changes to your phone system and no additional staff time.
When will the CQC publish the final adult social care framework? Summer 2026, according to the CQC's stated timetable. No specific date has been confirmed. The CQC will review all consultation responses before finalising — with 1,700+ responses expected, that takes time.
What happens to inspections in the meantime? The current Single Assessment Framework remains in use until the new framework is implemented, expected toward end of 2026. All inspections before that date are conducted under the SAF. The CQC's assessment volume target means inspection activity is high throughout summer 2026.
Does my service need to do anything immediately? No regulatory change is required right now. This is a preparation window, not a compliance deadline. The homes that use it will find evidencing KLOEs easier when inspection comes under the new framework.
Where can I read the full post-consultation preparation guide? See Preparing for the New CQC Adult Social Care Framework for a more detailed look at the summer 2026 → late 2026 implementation window and what evidence to prioritise.
If you want to start building a dated call evidence record before the new framework lands, Silent Guard's 30-day pilot costs £49 and sets up within a week. No phone system changes required.
CareTime's Silent Guard is available now for a 30-day pilot. £49, 1-page pilot letter — exit by reply-email.
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