Regulation 45 quality of care review: what to include and when it is due

What regulation 45 says

The registered person must have a system to monitor, review and improve the quality of care, and must complete a review of the quality of care at least once every six months. The review must take account of:

• the feedback and opinions of children about the home, its facilities and the quality of care;
• the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff;
• the actions needed to improve, or keep up, the quality of care.

A report of the review must be sent to Ofsted within 28 days of completing it, and made available to placing authorities if they ask.

What a good review includes

The DfE guide and Ofsted’s inspection framework both expect analysis, not a list of events. A strong review covers:

• Patterns in incidents, restraint, missing episodes, complaints and notifications since the last review
• Progress for each child against their plans: education, health, relationships
• What children said about the home and their care, and what changed as a result
• Views of parents, placing authorities and staff
• Themes and recommendations from the last six Regulation 44 reports, and whether actions were completed
• Staffing, supervision, training and qualifications
• An action plan for the next six months, with owners and dates

How the Residential Childcare App handles this

Because incidents, restraint, missing episodes, complaints, notifications and Regulation 44 reports are already in the app, the evidence for the review is in one place. The compliance hub tracks the six-month cycle and the 28-day deadline, and you record when the report went to Ofsted.

Plan your dates

Common weaknesses

• Describing what happened without saying what it means or what will change.
• No children’s voices, or only staff opinions.
• Last review’s actions not followed up.
• Ignoring what the Regulation 44 independent person said.
• The report reaching Ofsted after 28 days.