A provider in England that holds a rating from the Care Quality Commission must show it on its website as well as at its premises. The duty is regulation 20A of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, in force since 1 April 2015; the CQC’s guidance adds where on the site it expects the rating and how soon. Here is what the regulation asks for, what a missing rating risks, and whom it does not reach.
Key points
- Every website run by or for a rated provider shows the most recent rating, the date the CQC gave it, the CQC’s web address and where on the CQC’s site the assessment can be read.
- For independent doctors and clinics, the CQC names the main homepage or an appropriate landing page, reached through the main navigation.
- A new rating goes up within 21 calendar days of the CQC publishing it, even when a review has been requested.
- Breaching the regulation is an offence, with a fixed penalty of £100.
- A service not yet inspected has no rating to show; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own regulators.
What regulation 20A asks of a website
The regulation applies once the CQC has rated a provider’s performance: outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. From then on, “every website maintained by or on behalf of” the provider must show the CQC’s website address, the place on it where the most recent assessment can be read, and the most recent ratings themselves, for the provider overall and for particular premises or activities, so that it is clear which rating belongs to which.
Paragraph (7) sets the form: legible, displayed conspicuously in a place accessible to service users, and showing, for each rating, the date on which the CQC gave it.
The homepage, or the page patients land on
The regulation does not name a page. The CQC’s main guidance asks for ratings “on websites where you describe your service”, and its page for independent doctors and clinics is more precise: the current rating goes on a permanent page that the public visits often, where it is conspicuous, where it is obvious which service it relates to, and which the main navigation reaches. It names the main homepage or appropriate landing pages.
The CQC asks for its widget above the fold, so that nobody has to scroll to see the ratings. A practice with several locations can show each rating on that location’s own page.
Twenty-one days after the CQC publishes
Ratings go on posters and websites no later than 21 calendar days after the CQC publishes them, even if the provider has asked for a review. A note saying a review has been requested may be added, but the ratings must stay clear and conspicuous.
A provider that takes over a location need not show the rating given under the previous provider; if it does, it must make clear that the rating was awarded to the previous provider. The CQC may take action against a provider that displays false or misleading ratings information.
The CQC widget, or a display of your own
The widget code and the posters are on the “ratings posters and widgets” page of the service’s CQC profile. The CQC describes widgets as small pieces of code placed on a webpage, and recommends its own: it fetches the rating from the CQC’s system, links to the correct page and updates itself when the rating changes.
A display of your own, used instead of the widget, must include the name of the rated service, all provider and premises ratings, the date the inspection report was published, the address www.cqc.org.uk and a link to the service’s CQC profile page. The CQC supplies PowerPoint files for making the image; its logo may be used only as part of a display of the organisation’s own ratings.
Because the widget fetches its content from the CQC’s system, a site with a content security policy has to allow it, and the cookie banner and privacy notice have to reflect whatever it loads or stores; privacy and cookies on a UK practice website covers that side. A static image hosted on your own site, with a link, loads nothing from elsewhere, but has to be replaced by hand when a new rating is published.
A £100 penalty notice, or prosecution
Since 1 April 2015 a failure to comply with regulation 20A has been an offence. It is a fixed penalty offence for the purposes of section 86 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, with a penalty of £100. A prosecution can end, on summary conviction, in a fine of up to level 2 on the standard scale.
Who the rule does not reach
A service not yet inspected has nothing to display, and some services are exempt from the CQC’s duty to give a rating, primary dental services among them; they receive a judgement on whether they meet the regulations instead. Any registered provider may use the CQC’s “Regulated by” graphics, which the CQC calls particularly useful for a service without a rating.
A doctor who practises only under a hospital’s registration is not the provider: the rating is the hospital’s, and so is the duty. A doctor registered with the CQC in their own right has ratings for their own service once the CQC rates it, and the duty is then theirs.
An independent clinic registers with the CQC in England and with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales in Wales. Healthcare Improvement Scotland regulates independent healthcare in Scotland, and the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority inspects health and social care services in Northern Ireland; a practice there follows its own regulator’s rules. The UAE and Türkiye have other rules: a UAE clinic website needs an advertising licence before it is published, and in Türkiye the first question is whether a clinic needs one website or two.
Keeping the rating right on a practice website
- The rating sits near the top of the homepage, or of a landing page the main navigation reaches.
- Each rating names the service or location it belongs to and carries the date the CQC gave it.
- A link goes to the service’s own page on www.cqc.org.uk.
- Within 21 calendar days of a new report, the website changes: a widget updates itself, a static image is replaced.
On the page it joins the other items a private practice website needs, such as the regulator and the company details.
Common questions
Does the rating have to be on every page?
Neither the regulation nor the CQC’s guidance for independent doctors and clinics asks for that; the guidance names the main homepage or an appropriate landing page.
Our rating is requires improvement. Can we wait for the next inspection?
The duty does not depend on the rating: the most recent one goes up within 21 calendar days. The CQC encourages providers rated inadequate or requires improvement to say alongside it what they are doing to improve.
Do we need the poster as well as the website?
The regulation asks for both: a sign at each premises where regulated activities are provided and at the principal place of business. For independent doctors and clinics, the CQC asks for its poster in the waiting area, or wherever as many people as possible can see it.
This article explains the rules in general terms and is not legal advice.
This is part of the development work on every website we look after.
References
- The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, regulation 20A: Requirement as to display of performance assessments. legislation.gov.uk. 2014. Available from: legislation.gov.uk/
uksi/ [cited ].2014/ 2936/ regulation/ 20A - The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/64). legislation.gov.uk. 2015. Available from: legislation.gov.uk/
uksi/ [cited ].2015/ 64/ made - How providers must display ratings. Care Quality Commission. 2025. Available from: cqc.org.uk/
cqc [cited ].-ratings -and -promotional -graphics/ how -providers -must -display -ratings - Display of ratings: Independent doctors and clinics. Care Quality Commission. 2025. Available from: cqc.org.uk/
cqc [cited ].-ratings -and -promotional -graphics/ how -providers -must -display -ratings/ independent -doctors -clinics - How to use the CQC widget and posters. Care Quality Commission. 2025. Available from: cqc.org.uk/
cqc [cited ].-ratings -and -promotional -graphics/ how -providers -must -display -ratings/ cqc -widget -posters - Registration of independent health care service (England and Wales). GOV.UK. Available from: gov.uk/
find [cited ].-licences/ registration -of -independent -health -care -service -england -wales - Regulation of independent healthcare. Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Available from: healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/
inspections [cited ].-reviews -and -regulation/ regulation -of -independent -healthcare - Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority. Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority. Available from: rqia.org.uk [cited ].