Healthcare

Get information and advice to help guide you when finding and using healthcare services.


  • Making decisions about NHS healthcare

    If your doctor refers you to a specialist, you can now choose where you would like to go for your treatment. Find out about your options for choosing NHS healthcare.

  • Making decisions about independent healthcare

    This section contains important points to consider when making decisions about independent healthcare and cosmetic procedures, with searchable information on registered providers in your area.

  • Patient surveys

    Our national surveys help us find out about patients' and service users' experiences of healthcare. In this section you can find out more about those surveys, including what patients told us about their experiences of different types of services.

  • NHS staff surveys

    The annual national survey of NHS staff in England provides information on the views and experiences of people working in the NHS.

  • Concerns about healthcare

    Details of investigations and interventions carried out following concerns raised about safety and the quality of care of NHS patients.


    The Care Quality Commission replaced the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Mental Health Act Commission in April 2009. Where the following pages of this website refers to “we” or "our assessments" this is a reference to the Healthcare Commission up until 31 March 2009 and to the Care Quality Commission from 1 April 2009.