What is the most common type of CQC-registered provider?

Across the 40,820 providers in this report, the largest categories are dentists (12,086), residential care homes (10,210) and GP / doctor providers (9,380). A provider registered for more than one service type is counted under each. Figures are real CQC register counts, as of 2026-06-12.

How many care homes are CQC-registered in England?

14,638 CQC-registered care homes — 10,210 residential homes plus 4,428 nursing homes — appear across the local authorities in this report, as of 2026-06-12. The CQC registers and inspects every care home in England.

Which region of England has the most CQC-registered providers?

South East leads the regions in this report with 7,084 CQC-registered providers across 17 local authorities, as of 2026-06-12. Its largest single authority is Kent (1,207 providers). These are exact counts of registered providers, not ratings.

Does this report give CQC star ratings or a numeric score?

No. The CQC rates each inspected provider as Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate — a category, never a 0–5 star number — so this report deliberately publishes no numeric average or star score. It reports how many providers are registered, where, and what services they deliver. To check a specific provider's current rating, look it up by name on the official CQC website.

Where does the data in the UK Care Quality Report come from?

Every figure is computed directly from the Care Quality Commission register (40,820 providers across 146 local authorities), sourced from www.cqc.org.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0, as of 2026-06-12. GeraClinic publishes provider (business) records only — never any patient data — and mixes in no estimates or survey data.

GeraClinic / Care providers / UK Care Quality Report 2026

UK Care Quality Report 2026

An analysis of 40,820 CQC-registered health and care providers across 146 local authorities and 9 regions of England — broken down by region, service type and local authority. Every figure is an exact count from real Care Quality Commission records (data as of 2026-06-12).

Quick answer

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. This report covers 40,820 CQC-registered providers — every GP surgery, dentist, clinic, hospital and care home must be registered with the CQC to operate. Of these, 37,081 (90.8%) publish a contact phone number and 21,369 (52.3%) a website. CQC ratings are a category (Outstanding / Good / Requires improvement / Inadequate), not a 0–5 number, so this report publishes counts only — never a numeric average.

The headline numbers

Registered providers: 40,820
Local authorities: 146
Regions: 9
Postcode areas: 143

CQC-registered providers by region

CQC-registered providers by English region, with the largest local authority in each region.
Region	Authorities	Providers	Largest authority
South East	17	7,084	Kent (1,207)
London	33	6,754	Westminster (898)
North West	23	5,404	Lancashire (949)
East	11	4,351	Essex (1,063)
West Midlands	14	4,264	Birmingham (861)
South West	14	4,239	Devon (655)
Yorkshire & Humberside	15	3,735	Leeds (539)
East Midlands	9	3,314	Nottinghamshire (575)
North East	10	1,675	County Durham (341)

CQC-registered providers by service type

Across every local authority in this report, summed by the service types the CQC registers providers for. A provider registered for more than one service is counted under each.

Dentist

12,086 (27.2%)

Residential homes

10,210 (23%)

Doctors/GPs

9,380 (21.1%)

Nursing homes

4,428 (10%)

Diagnosis/screening

1,134 (2.6%)

Community services - Healthcare

867 (2%)

Clinic

844 (1.9%)

Hospital

774 (1.7%)

Rehabilitation (illness/injury)

749 (1.7%)

Hospitals - Mental health/capacity

686 (1.5%)

Ambulances

375 (0.8%)

Mobile doctors

359 (0.8%)

Plus 2,523 providers across 19 other service types (e.g. Supported housing, Urgent care centres, Long-term conditions, …).

Local authorities with the most registered providers

Browse all 146 local authorities →

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How to read CQC ratings

Outstanding: the service is performing exceptionally well.
Good: the service is performing well and meeting expectations.
Requires improvement: the service is not performing as well as it should.
Inadequate: the service is performing badly and action has been taken.

A CQC rating is a category, not a 0–5 number — this report never converts ratings into a numeric average. Some registered providers have not yet been inspected and so carry no rating. Check any specific provider's current rating by name on the official CQC website.

UK Care Quality Report 2026 — FAQs

How many CQC-registered care providers are there in England?: This GeraClinic UK Care Quality Report covers 40,820 CQC-registered health and care providers across 146 local authorities and 9 regions of England, as of 2026-06-12. Every figure is an exact count from real Care Quality Commission records — the CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, and every GP surgery, dentist, clinic, hospital and care home must be registered with it to operate.
What is the most common type of CQC-registered provider?: Across the 40,820 providers in this report, the largest categories are dentists (12,086), residential care homes (10,210) and GP / doctor providers (9,380). A provider registered for more than one service type is counted under each. Figures are real CQC register counts, as of 2026-06-12.
How many care homes are CQC-registered in England?: 14,638 CQC-registered care homes — 10,210 residential homes plus 4,428 nursing homes — appear across the local authorities in this report, as of 2026-06-12. The CQC registers and inspects every care home in England.
Which region of England has the most CQC-registered providers?: South East leads the regions in this report with 7,084 CQC-registered providers across 17 local authorities, as of 2026-06-12. Its largest single authority is Kent (1,207 providers). These are exact counts of registered providers, not ratings.
Does this report give CQC star ratings or a numeric score?: No. The CQC rates each inspected provider as Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate — a category, never a 0–5 star number — so this report deliberately publishes no numeric average or star score. It reports how many providers are registered, where, and what services they deliver. To check a specific provider's current rating, look it up by name on the official CQC website.
Where does the data in the UK Care Quality Report come from?: Every figure is computed directly from the Care Quality Commission register (40,820 providers across 146 local authorities), sourced from www.cqc.org.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0, as of 2026-06-12. GeraClinic publishes provider (business) records only — never any patient data — and mixes in no estimates or survey data.

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Methodology

Every figure is an exact sum over 40,820 real Care Quality Commission provider records, grouped by region, service type and local authority. CQC publishes a categorical rating scheme (Outstanding / Good / Requires improvement / Inadequate), never a 0–5 numeric scale — so this report shows no numeric average and no star ratings. No estimates or survey data are mixed in. Provider (business) records only — no patient data is shown. A provider registered for more than one service type is counted under each in the service-type breakdown. Data as of 2026-06-12.

Source: Care Quality Commission www.cqc.org.uk. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Provider records are sourced from the Care Quality Commission at www.cqc.org.uk. Details reflect the most recent CQC record and may have changed since publication. GeraClinic is not affiliated with the CQC.