Recommendation P2-28: CQC guidance on hospice inspection scope
From Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report, published 15 July 2025.
Recommendation
To avoid confusion over its remit, the Care Quality Commission should issue clear guidance to inspectors (and others) that hospice inspections should not include areas where deceased people are kept, other than to focus on the needs of bereaved relatives.
In brief (written by this site)
In June 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care reported that the recommendation remained in progress, noting that the Care Quality Commission had issued a rapid update and an internal bulletin to reiterate the limits of mortuary regulation to inspectors (Department of Health and Social Care, Jun 2026). The department stated at that time that the commission was still "working on revising guidance to inspectors" (Department of Health and Social Care, Jun 2026).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
CQC issued a rapid update to reiterate to inspectors the limits of their regulation in relation to mortuaries, and a further update through its internal bulletin to inspectors. CQC is currently working on revising guidance to inspectors.
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: This is the Department of Health and Social Care's interim update on government progress in responding to the phase 2 report, published on 16 December 2025. It sorts the 75 recommendations into those the government has accepted in full (11), accepted in principle (43) and is still considering (21), and gives words of its own only on the 11 accepted in full. Every word is the Department's, so the rows are filed under it, including where the passage reports what another body has done.
Site note: The recommendation is addressed to the Care Quality Commission; the passage is the Department's account, not that body's.
Delivery
Department of Health and Social Care says in progress (16 June 2026)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) issued a rapid update to reiterate to inspectors the limits of their regulation in relation to mortuaries, and a further update via its internal bulletin to inspectors. CQC is currently working on revising guidance to inspectors.
From: Fuller Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard
Site note: The source names this recommendation by number.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Department of Health and Social Care
Response, delivery statement