OHPN – Outstanding Home Care Providers Network

OHPN: CQC quality improvement support for UK homecare providers

Outstanding Homecare Providers Network Ltd, trading as OHPN, is a veteran-led consultancy that works with homecare providers on their Care Quality Commission (CQC) obligations. Its stated focus is helping services move beyond compliance towards what it describes as outstanding care, combining consultancy with mentorship and a structured methodology. The organisation presents itself as independent but aligned with CQC and NHS quality improvement approaches.

Who the consultancy works with

OHPN frames its support around the provider's current CQC rating and stage of development. The site lists several groups it addresses:

• Providers rated Inadequate or Requires Improvement that need a focused recovery plan.
• Providers rated Good that want to reach Outstanding.
• Services preparing for a CQC reinspection, audit or follow-up, or working through action plans.
• New providers building safe, compliant systems from the outset.

The material states that the work is tailored to the provider's rating and local context, with the aim of producing evidence that withstands inspection.

Services offered

The consultancy's service list covers both entry into the sector and ongoing quality work:

• Care Startup Studio.
• Service improvement projects.
• CQC Quality Uplift Support.
• CQC registration for new providers.
• Tender writing.
• Provider Information Return (PIR) support.
• Website design, with a published portfolio.
• Social media management.

A six-stage improvement methodology

OHPN describes a structured cycle rather than one-off templates. The stages are: diagnosing what is going wrong; setting focused, measurable goals; acting and improving; tracking risk and measuring what matters; reflecting, learning and telling the story; and sustaining and repeating what works. The framework is presented as built around the CQC Single Assessment Framework (SAF) and inspired by NHS quality improvement methods.

Proprietary tools

The consultancy markets a set of named tools adapted from NHS improvement models and designed for the CQC framework:

• RootFix Diagnostic, for spotting hidden risks early.
• FocusPath Framework, for turning goals into SMART, CQC-aligned actions.
• CulturalSafetyView Diagnostic, for reading early culture and safety signals.
• ImpactCycle Framework, for building quality habits.
• RiskSight Map, for visually tracking risks before inspectors do.

OHPN positions these against generic consultancy templates, arguing that its approach targets the root causes of inspection failures and addresses the safe, caring, effective, responsive and well-led domains.

Improvement pathways and resources

The site sets out two improvement routes: from Inadequate or Requires Improvement to Good, and from Good to Outstanding, with action plans aligned to CQC quality statements. It also offers free resources, including a homecare improvement toolkit, an "Outstanding-Ready" self-assessment, a SMART goal builder template, medication and risk checklists and quick-start planning tools.

Track record and case studies

OHPN describes itself as a new organisation whose methods rest on established healthcare improvement frameworks. It says full case studies will be published as it begins supporting providers, and lists three examples: a first-time provider with no prior social care experience reaching CQC registration; a care provider turning a rejected CQC application into approval after incomplete compliance documentation; and the launch of a domiciliary care agency from scratch within 90 days.