How providers must display ratings

To download the CQC widget and posters, you first need to find your organisation's profile pages on our website.

Service providers have 2 types of page on our website:

• provider page: for the organisation that runs the service. This might be an acute trust or a company that runs care homes.
• location (or 'premises') page: for the place where services are delivered. This might be a hospital, a care home or a GP surgery. All the locations run by a provider are listed on its provider page.

You can use the 'search for a health or social care service' box on our homepage to search for your provider or location pages. You can also use the search box on our find care services page.

One of your profile pages is 'ratings posters and widgets'. This page includes:

• a preview of the widget
• the widget code
• ratings posters to download.

If there is no widget displaying or links to the posters on your page, your service could be one that does not have a rating. If you know you’ve had a rating but you still can’t find the poster, email webteam@cqc.org.uk.

How to use the CQC widget

Web widgets are small pieces of code to place on a webpage. They are often used to display information from other sites.

We recommend using the widget to display your ratings online. It:

• displays all the information required by the regulation
• fetches the rating or inspection result from our system and displays the result on your website
• displays information in a clear and conspicuous way.

The widget also automatically:

• links to the correct page on our website where people can find your inspection report and ratings
• updates if your rating or inspection result changes
• updates if we alter the widget.

To use the widget, make sure you:

• read the terms and conditions of using the CQC widget before you do so
• place it above the fold on a webpage so that people do not need to scroll down to see your ratings
• check all your organisation's pages for a link to the widget as you may be required to display a provider rating as well as premises ratings.

If you need further help using the widget, see our guidance on using the widget and troubleshooting.

Alternatives to the CQC widget

You do not have to use our widget, although we strongly recommend that you do. If you choose not to, your website must still include:

• the name of your rated service
• all provider and premises ratings - this information can be on different webpages if you have separate pages for different premises
• the date the inspection report was published
• our website address (www.cqc.org.uk)
• a link to your profile page on our website with the assessment of your performance and ratings.

All the ratings materials that we provide include CQC’s trademark logo. You do not need to ask for this separately.

You can create your own online display by using either:

• PowerPoint templates
• CQC brand images

PowerPoint template

Download the PowerPoint files that apply to your ratings, and the instructions on how to create your ratings image.

Once created, upload the image(s) to your website and link to the relevant page(s) for your organisation on CQC’s website.

PowerPoint ratings images:

• Template to create an image for an Outstanding rating
• Template to create an image for a Good rating
• Template to create an image for a Requires Improvement rating
• Template to create an image for an Inadequate rating

CQC brand images

If you cannot use the widget or the PowerPoint template, email webteam@cqc.org.uk.

Please note: the CQC logo is a Registered Trademark and you may only use it as part of a display showing your organisation's ratings.

How to display posters

You can download and print posters showing your most up-to-date ratings. These posters include all the information you need to display.

NHS trusts (for acute, ambulance and mental health services) will also have a provider-level poster on their provider page.

The posters must be clear and conspicuous. Print in colour and on A4 paper or larger.

If you share premises with other registered providers, you are each responsible for displaying your ratings when you are providing regulated activities to the public.

We will provide a template for you to use to display your ratings at your premises. The templates are available as Photoshop or PowerPoint files and you can find them on the 'Ratings posters and widgets' page of your service's profile on our website.

Share extra information for the public

You can promote your most recent ratings when you contact people who use your services, for example on letters or emails. If you are rated as good or outstanding, you can use our official promotional graphics to promote this to people using your service and the wider community.

As well as displaying ratings posters, you can display additional information alongside a poster to help people understand what your ratings mean.

You can tell people how to find out about improvements or what you have changed since we published your ratings. Use the space we provide on our posters or put extra information next to the poster, but make sure it does not detract from it.

If you create your own poster

You can decide not to use CQC poster template and create your own. They must include the necessary information and be just as visible and clear as our posters