Timely and equitable access
Does the service ensure that everyone can access equitable and timely care, support and treatment?
In brief
Timely and equitable access is key line of enquiry 3 under the Responsive key question in the Care Quality Commission (CQC) draft adult social care assessment framework (v9, 19 March 2026), currently published for consultation. It covers access to services, accessible premises and equipment, reasonable adjustments and communication needs (as they relate to access, including sensory needs), digital exclusion (communication barriers). CQC describes performance against it at four rating levels: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement and Inadequate. Each statement and rating characteristic quoted here is reproduced verbatim from CQC's draft; plain-English summaries are HLTH's own.
- Key question
- Responsive
- Line of enquiry
- KLOE 3 of 4 under Responsive
- Rating levels
- Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate
- Source
- Adult social care assessment framework, v9 (19 March 2026)
- Status
- Draft, published by CQC for consultation
- Reference
- pp. 46–47 of the CQC draft
Scope and topic areas
What this line of enquiry covers
Scope of this key line of enquiry and topic areas include:
- Access to services
- Accessible premises and equipment
- Reasonable adjustments and communication needs (as they relate to access, including sensory needs)
- Digital exclusion (communication barriers)
Rating characteristics
How CQC describes each rating
The four characteristic sets for this KLOE, best to worst. Every point is CQC's wording, reproduced exactly.
Outstanding
In plain terms: Care is exceptional and consistently better than the Good standard.
- People’s experience of care is seamless. Care, support and treatment is delivered promptly and equitably, setting a benchmark for inclusive practices.
- The service consistently demonstrates proactive leadership and exceeds requirements in equality and human rights, embedding fairness and dignity in every interaction. It champions inclusion and anticipates needs.
- The approach to designing services prioritises universal accessibility, ensuring potential barriers are identified and eliminated before they can impact people’s ability to access care.
- Accessibility is innovative and co-designed with people.
- Leaders and staff maintain exceptional vigilance, actively challenging and addressing discrimination and fostering a culture of equity.
- Meaningful feedback from people and communities, as well as other relevant evidence, drives continuous improvement. The evidence Is used to prioritise and improve access for those most likely to experience delays in accessing care.
Good
In plain terms: The service meets the expected standard.
- People can access care, support and treatment, including physically, when they need it and in a way that works for them. which promotes equality, removes barriers or delays and protects their rights.
- Reasonable adjustments are understood and made to ensure equal access to the service for all. This removes barriers for people who find it hard to access services.
- The service is designed to be accessible and available for people at the point of need, including those most likely to have difficulty accessing care. When there are barriers that prevent equitable access, they are removed.
- Where applicable, the service supports and enables people to be accompanied to appointments, without unnecessary restrictions.
- Leaders and staff are alert to discrimination and inequality that disadvantage different groups of people in accessing their service whether this is from wider society, within organisational processes and culture, or from other people.
- The service seeks people’s feedback and other evidence and uses this to improve access for people who are more likely to experience barriers or delays in accessing their care.
Requires improvement
In plain terms: The service is not yet Good and has areas that must improve.
- People using the service experience some barriers to accessing the care or support they need, when they need it, particularly because of their protected equality characteristics.
- There are shortfalls in how the needs and preferences of different people are taken into account, for example on the grounds of protected equality characteristics.
- The service does not consistently make reasonable adjustments to make sure everyone using the service has equitable access to care and support and without unfair delays.
- Leaders and staff do not fully understand how inequality and discrimination affect different groups of people and disadvantages some from getting care, support and treatment.
- The service does not consistently ensure it learns from people’s feedback and other evidence to improve access for people more likely to experience barriers or delays in accessing their care.
Inadequate
In plain terms: Performance is well below the expected standard; enforcement may follow.
- People face significant barriers in accessing their care, support and treatment because the service fails to understand or consider their individual needs. This includes failing to understand or recognise people’s needs based on their protected equality characteristics and their rights.
- The service fails to make reasonable adjustments for people in line with their protected equality characteristics.
- Leaders and staff do not understand the impact of inequality and discrimination on people when accessing the service.
- The service does not learn from people’s feedback and other evidence, so access for people more likely to experience barriers or delays in accessing their care is not improved as a result.
Reading these against your own evidence is where most providers get stuck. We can walk it through with you.