Inspector - Hospitals, Secondary and Specialist Care - South West

Care Quality Commission; England; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Homeworking allowance

NHS pension scheme

Training and development opportunities

Wellbeing initiatives

Discount schemes

Job summary

The Care Quality Commission is recruiting for a permanent, full-time role based in the South West, offering a Grade B salary of £42,044 plus a £600 homeworking allowance. Working 37 hours per week, the closing date is 2 November 2026.

The role focuses on inspections in Hospitals, Secondary and Specialist Care to ensure safe, high‑quality care across providers. Applicants should have experience assessing care or service quality, collaborating with partners, and using information to inform

Qualifications

• Experience assessing care or service quality.
• Experience working with different partners.
• Ability to analyse and use information.

Responsibilities

• Lead regulatory assessments: Carry out on-site and off-site assessments, develop inspection plans, and analyse information to build a clear picture of quality and safety.
• Guide and support others: Work with inspection teams, specialist advisors, and colleagues to share insight, understand risks, and build relationships with providers.
• Use evidence to drive decisions: Record findings clearly, analyse data to spot trends, and make risk-based decisions that support safety and wellbeing.

Job description

Grade B :£42,044 (National Framework). There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £600 per annum for those working from home.
Contracted Hours:Full time 37 hours per week
Contract Type:Permanent
Closing date:Monday 02 November 2026 at 11.59pm

We're currently accepting applications from candidates based in the South West area of England. If you live outside of the South West area we're unable to progress your application on this occasion.

Make a difference

Every role at CQC contributes to our mission, and if you’re looking for a new role inOperationsthat gives a true sense of purpose, then you’ve found it. As aHospitals, Secondary and Specialist Care Inspector, you’ll help make sure people receive safe, effective and high-quality care.

Picture this

Each day brings new insight. One moment you may be visiting a hospital ward, the next you’re analysing information that helps shape safer services for thousands of people. As aHospitals, Secondary and Specialist Care Inspector, you might get the chance to work on:

• Reviewing care concerns raised by patients, families or staff and using this insight to trigger urgent assessment activity that protects people.
• Leading an on‑site inspection that identifies risks, supports improvement, and ensures a provider is held to account where safety standards aren’t met.

The role

You’ll be key in helping us deliver our work. In this role, you’ll:

• Lead regulatory assessments: Carry out on‑site and off‑site assessments, develop inspection plans, and analyse information from many sources to build a clear picture of quality and safety.
• Guide and support others: Work with inspection teams, specialist advisors, and colleagues across the organisation to share insight, understand risks, and build strong relationships with providers and stakeholders.
• Use evidence to drive decisions: Record findings clearly, analyse data to spot trends, and make fair, risk‑based decisions that support people’s safety and wellbeing.

Show us

We’ll be looking for the following in your application:

• Experience assessing care or service quality: This could be in health, social care, the NHS, or a regulatory environment, including making decisions based on risk and evidence.
• Experience working with different partners: Including working with teams or external organisations to share information, solve problems, and support improvement in a professional and respectful way.
• Ability to analyse and use information: Including reviewing data or intelligence from multiple sources and using it to make clear judgments, produce reports, or influence actions.

Compliance

To progress your application, you’ll need to provide evidence of your right towork in the UK. Without valid right to work you won’t be eligible for therole. We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. Someroles may also be subject to a satisfactory DBS check.

You can read the full details of the role in theJob Description

If you’d like an informal chat about the role contact – Nikki Evans, Operations Manager; [e-mail]. For general enquiries, please email [e-mail].

The Benefits

Weoffer a wide range of benefits, including:

• Annual leave starting at 27 days per year, rising to 32.5 days with service, plus bank holidays (usually 8 days per year).
• Training and development opportunities.
• Wellbeing initiatives, such as gym discounts and meditation.
• NHS pension scheme, with around 14% employer contribution.
• Discount schemes (including eligibility for a Blue Light card, at a cost of £4.99 and valid for 2 years), reward vouchers, car leasing and more!

Please see ourbenefitspage for the full list.

Equity for all

We know job descriptions can feel intimidating. Research shows they can cause some people to doubt whether they’re a good fit. This happens more often to people from underrepresented groups (e.g. ethnic minority backgrounds). If this role interests you, we encourage you to apply. Your unique perspective, skills, and experience could be exactly what we need.
We want every candidate to feel supported and able to do their best. If you need adjustments to our process,we’ll work with you to remove any barriers. Visit our accessibility page for more on this. If you’d like to chat, please contact [e-mail]. Please note, if you have previously informed us of adjustments you need for interview or within your role these are not carried over and must be discussed for each individual application you make.
We promote a workplace wherefairness, respect and inclusion are a priority. Diverse teams make our work better, help us deliver our mission and make our culture stronger. See our ED& I page for more about this.
We welcomeapplications fromeveryone,and colleagues can find supportand community among our many employee networks. This includes people of any:

• Age
• Sex
• Gender identity or expression
• Sexual orientation
• Religion or belief
• Ethnicity
• Disability

Values and vision

We are guided by ourcore values, which shape our work and our culture.
Excellence– being a high-performing organisation.
Caring– treating everyone with dignity and respect.
Integrity– doing the right thing.
Teamwork– learning from each other to be the best we can.
We are a disability confident employer and a carer confident employer.

A Note on AI

AI tools can be great for research and refining ideas, but we want to learn about you. If you use AI or Chatbots to help you with your application, keep these points in mind:

• AI can support research, structuring and refining your writing, but your application must reflect your real skills and experience.
• Spell-checking and condensing word counts are great ways to use AI effectively.
• Do not copy and paste AI generated answers. These will not help you stand out; remember we want to hear about your skills and experience.
• Providing false and insincere examples goes against our core values of honesty and integrity and may lead to your application being withdrawn or termination of your employment.