Feeling good is not the same as knowing good. Most practices feel like they’re doing fine. That feeling isn’t proof.
When we ran a live self-assessment at our May webinar, 224 practice managers rated their own evidence against the 10 quality statements CQC assess in a Returning to Good inspection — green if they knew they had the evidence, amber if they weren’t sure, red if they didn’t.
The average practice came back with 3.2 reds and 4.7 ambers, out of 10. Four in five had at least one red. Over half had three or more.
That’s not a story about the quality of care those practices deliver. Every red we’ve seen sits in the same place — can you evidence it, not is it happening. Governance, not care. That gap between feeling ready and knowing you’re ready is the whole reason Harmony CQC exists.
Why this matters to us
In 2019, our founder Daniel Vincent’s own practice was rated Inadequate. The care hadn’t changed — what could be proven had. Rebuilding that — Risk, Process, Training, Proof — is where everything Harmony CQC has done since has come from, including this scorecard.
What Returning to Good actually checks
CQC’s Single Assessment Framework contains 34 quality statements. A focused Returning to Good assessment — the kind most previously Good or Outstanding practices are likely to get — re-scores 10 of them and carries the other 24 forward from your last rating.
Those 10 span all five key questions: safe environments, safe and effective staffing, infection prevention and control, supporting people to live healthier lives, monitoring and improving outcomes, kindness and compassion, equity in access, equity in experience and outcomes, shared direction and culture, and governance, management and sustainability.
They’re specific, and they’re knowable in advance. The question is never really “are we good enough” — it’s “can we prove it.”
A free way to check, any time
The live webinar version of this self-assessment only existed once, in the room, for the people who happened to be there. We wanted a way for any practice to do the same honest check whenever it suits them — not just on a Wednesday in May.
That’s the Harmony CQC Confidence Scorecard.
It takes about five minutes. You rate your evidence against the same 10 quality statements — green, amber or red — and get personalised results at the end, showing you exactly where the gaps sit.
It won’t tell you what good looks like — that’s deliberate. The scorecard’s job is to show you where you stand today, honestly. What to do about it is a separate conversation, and one we’re glad to have once you know where you actually are.
Try it
Join the free Harmony CQC Community and you’ll find the scorecard waiting for you inside: https://1.hcqc.co.uk
It costs nothing, takes five minutes, and gives you something most practices don’t have going into an inspection: an honest, evidenced answer instead of a feeling.