Embedding a Safeguarding Culture: What CQC Inspectors Look For

Embedding a safeguarding culture is about ensuring safeguarding isn’t just a policy — it’s how your organisation thinks, acts, and delivers care every day. This is exactly what CQC inspectors look for in well-led services.

Key indicators of a strong safeguarding culture:

• Leadership sets a clear tone that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility
• Staff feel confident and supported to raise safeguarding concerns
• Supervision and appraisals include safeguarding discussions
• Learning from incidents, audits, and reviews is shared and acted upon
• People who use services are supported to understand and exercise their rights to safety
• Safeguarding is reflected in service improvement plans and governance reports

CQC inspectors will explore how safeguarding is lived in your organisation — not just whether you have a policy on the shelf.