select a county.. ---------England--------- Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Birmingham Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Sussex East Yorkshire English Isles Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Hereford & Worcester Hertfordshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire London Manchester Merseyside Middlesex Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Somerset South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Sussex West Yorkshire Wiltshire ---------Scotland--------- Aberdeenshire Ayrshire Dumfries Falkirk Fife Forth Valley Glasgow & Inverclyde Highlands Lanarkshire Lothian Perth & Kinross Scottish Borders Scottish-Isles Tayside -----------Wales----------- Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Powys Glamorgan ---------N.Ireland--------- Antrim Armagh County Down Derry Fermanagh Tyrone ---------Overseas---------- Spain

The National Care Standards Commission was established in England under the Care Standards Act 2000, in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care in 1999.

In April 2004, this body was replaced by two organisations, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI).

On 1 April 2009, these two bodies were replaced by the Care Quality Commission (CQC - www.cqc.org.uk). The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is a new independent body which from 1 April 2009 became exclusively responsible for the inspection, monitoring and regulation of health and social care in England.

National Minimum Standards will be replaced with Compliance Guideline Criteria by 2010.

CQC will have a wide range of enforcement powers including warning letters, temporary suspension and fines. The ultimate remit is to drive up quality of health and social care.'

In Scotland the role of the CQC is fulfilled by the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Social Care (www.carecommission.com) and in Wales by the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales (www.cssiw.org.uk). In Northern Ireland, the role is carried out by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (www.rqia.org.uk).

If you require further assistance or would like to speak to the Independent Care Adviser this site recommends please call 0800 137 669 or complete the e-mail enquiry form.