CQC regulates providers of online primary care services in England where they are delivering a regulated activity by an online means.
This involves transmitting information by text, sound, images or other digital forms to deliver care and treatment to patients and to follow this up. Examples include providers that deliver healthcare consultations by video link and providers prescribing medicines in response to online forms. This guidance applies to providers in the independent sector when they deliver primary medical care purely as a standalone service.
The regulated activities delivered are most commonly:
- treatment of disease, disorder or injury
- transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely
- diagnostic and screening procedures
Our approach to monitoring and inspecting is similar to how we regulate face-to-face primary medical services that also have an online healthcare element, such as carrying out consultations by video call.