Appealing to the First-tier tribunal (CQC and Ofsted)

If CQC or Ofsted has issued your service with a Notice of Decision you have 28 days from the date you received the Notice to submit an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Care Standards).

The time required and work involved in preparing an effective appeal and then dealing with the tribunal and CQC or Ofsted, should not be underestimated. If an appeal goes all the way to a hearing, the process typically takes up to 7 months.

Errol Archer and his team have handled hundreds of appeals across different tribunals and worked with many care homes, homecare, GPs, independent healthcare and other providers, both large and small.

We view a successful appeal as one which never gets to a hearing because the strength of the appeal that we submit with supporting evidence persuades CQC or Ofsted to stop the enforcement action. In some cases, matters must be escalated to CQC or Ofsted Board level to encourage a satisfactory resolution.

We also have extensive experience of bringing urgent appeals against CQC Notices of Decision.