Mobilebanner 4

CQC Searches
& Preparation

What is the CQC Searches
and Preparation Service?
We complete medicines management searches aligned with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to help GP practices prepare for inspection.
Virtual Pharmacist supports GP practices, PCNs, and ICBs through to CQC inspection. This is done by our team completing structured medicines management searches to understand how the practice manages its patients and identifies clinical risks. We deliver this service remotely, helping practices to demonstrate oversight, risk management, and continuous improvement.

How Will This Help
My Practice?

Our clinical team completes searches used by CQC inspectors, assessing the Safe and Effective domains. This ensures that the practice and its records are prepared for inspection.
Medlast3

Reduces and works through backlogs

Including of overdue medication reviews, clinic letters, and medicines-related tasks.

Highlights any inspection risks

Identifying and resolving safety flags before CQC inspectors arrive.

Provides inspection-ready evidence outputs

Delivering structured reports, supporting pre-inspection questionnaires and on-the-day discussion.

Prioritises high-risk patient safety

Focusing immediate attention from backlogs on high-risk medicines and patient safety impacts.

Relieves pressure during preparation

We remotely prepare these searches and outputs, allowing practice staff to focus on daily patient care.

Supports practices throughout

Guiding staff through processes and all necessary preparation until the day of inspection.

How Does Virtual Pharmacist Work?

oneno
Explore our services
Take a look through our services to find out which one works best to support your practice’s needs. 
2
Submit an enquiry
Get in touch with us or submit an enquiry to tell us which service solution your practice requires. 
3
Get started
We’ll be in touch within 48 hours to introduce you to our best-in-class service delivery platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) uses standardised searches within GP practice software, such as EMIS and SystmOne, to identify any potential clinical risks for patients within the practice. These searches are used as key evidence for safety ratings during CQC inspections.

This depends on the risk rating a practice previously receives from the CQC. For those with ‘inadequate’ ratings, they are re-inspected within 6 months, ‘requires improvement’ ratings are re-inspected within a year, and ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ ratings are re-inspected within 5 years.

Within this time, the CQC continuously monitors data through their searches. If the searches show high patient risks, the CQC can trigger a new inspection immediately.

Yes, we regularly support practices to reduce backlogs safely and defensibly, providing a clear audit trail. We apply a clinical risk-based approach by prioritising high-risk medicines, vulnerable patients, and actions with potential safety implications.
No, the Care Quality Commission expects practices to identify and address any pressures that may have triggered a CQC inspection. The clearing of these backlogs demonstrates insight, prioritisation, and commitment to taking action for patient safety.
Rectangle 35

Get In Touch