CQC regulation and private drug and alcohol treatment services

Who the regulators are

Health and social care regulation is devolved across the UK:

• England — Care Quality Commission (CQC)
• Scotland — Healthcare Improvement Scotland and the Care Inspectorate
• Wales — Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and Care Inspectorate Wales
• Northern Ireland — Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA)

What registration covers

Registration attaches to specific regulated activities at specific locations, not to a brand or a marketing website. In England, activities relevant to this sector include treatment of disease, disorder or injury, and accommodation for people who require treatment for substance misuse.

This means a provider may be registered for one service and not another, or at one location and not another. "CQC registered" as a general claim is not meaningful on its own — what matters is which location and which activity.

Ratings

CQC publishes inspection reports and, for many services, ratings such as Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate. Some services have been registered but not yet inspected, in which case no rating exists. An absent rating is not a criticism.

How to check

1. Search the regulator's public register by provider or location name.
2. Confirm the address matches the service you are considering.
3. Read the most recent inspection report, not just the headline rating.
4. Note the date — reports can be several years old.

How NeuroLynk handles this

We only display regulatory information where we have recorded:

• the verification status
• the public source URL
• the date it was last verified
• who reviewed it

We do not display a rating unless it is explicitly confirmed against that source, and we never infer or estimate one. NeuroLynk is not a regulator and does not endorse or approve providers; we display verified information and tell you where it came from.

If you have a concern

Concerns about the quality or safety of a regulated service can be raised with the service itself and, separately, with the relevant regulator. Regulators publish their own guidance on how to do this.