Publishing quality ratings - your questions answered
Get answers to frequently asked questions about
publishing quality ratings.
1. When will you publish my quality rating?
From 2008 a quality rating for each service is published
following a key inspection.
Good and excellent services may not be due a key inspection for
two to three years, so we have also published
their ratings from key inspections carried out prior to 2008. We
have only included these where the provider has agreed.
Ratings have appeared in inspection reports (printed copies and
those on our website) since January 2008 where key
inspections have been carried out and have been displayed on the
pages of our website from May 2008.
2. What if I don't want my quality assessment to be
published?
Following any key inspections after January 2008, we will
automatically publish your quality rating in your inspection report
and on our web site. If you have told us that you do not want us to
publish the quality assessment we produced prior
to 2008, then this will not appear on our website.
We will not publish any random inspection reports on our website
if the random inspection happens before your next
key inspection. They will be sent to you and will only be made
available to people upon request, in the same way that they are
now. These reports may contain details of your quality assessment
(prior to 2008).
On the searchable quality rating section on our website your
service will appear as ‘not yet rated’ pending your key
inspection.
3. What are the implications of the Freedom of Information Act
and the Care Standards Act?
Inspection reports are available to members of the public. From
2008 these reports include the quality rating rating for your
service.
We may also receive requests for information about the rating
that was given to your service prior to 2008. We are bound by
the terms of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This means
that if we receive a request to see the rating that was produced
prior to 2008 under FOIA, we will be obliged to disclose it to that
enquirer unless there is a valid legal reason not to (we call this
a statutory exemption). Such a request could be made by the media
or any member of the public.
Members of the public may also request copies of your inspection
reports. Random inspections that we carry out this year may include
details of your quality rating. Under the Care Standards Act we are
obliged to make available unaltered copies of these reports.