A Provider Information Return (PIR) is the annual online form that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) asks every registered adult social care service in England to complete. It collects facts and figures about the people you support, your staff, your partnerships and your quality and risk systems, together with written answers on how you keep the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. CQC emails it to the registered manager once a calendar year and gives four weeks to submit it.
Why does CQC ask for a PIR?
CQC says it needs information about your service every year, “including any changes that you have made” and “how you ensure that your service is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led”. The PIR is how CQC collects that information, and providing it is required by law under Regulation 17(3) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
CQC uses the information to monitor services. Once the PIR has been reviewed, CQC may contact you to clarify answers or gather more detail. The details may also be used in national reports and shared with Skills for Care and the Department of Health and Social Care.
What questions does the PIR ask?
The questions differ by service type. Residential services, community services, Shared Lives schemes and specialist colleges each have their own question guidance on the CQC website. For residential services the form covers:
- People who use your service: care needs and preferences, restrictions and restraints, equality, diversity and human rights, and funding
- Staff: numbers, training and qualifications
- Commissioners and partnerships
- Quality assurance and risk management: infection prevention and control, duty of candour, medicines and controlled drugs, complaints, and records
- Video monitoring cameras, and any information not included elsewhere
Each written answer is limited to 500 words. CQC says it is “looking for a snapshot of the service”. Number questions have no word limit, and every mandatory question on a page must be answered before the form lets you move to the next page.
Is the PIR used to decide my CQC rating?
Not on its own. CQC states that the PIR “is not a pre-inspection document” and that “judgements about the overall quality and ratings of services are not based on the PIR, but on information gathered over the whole inspection process”.
It is, however, the one document in which you describe your service in your own words, and the inspector will follow up if they need more than you have provided. A clear, well-evidenced PIR gives CQC an accurate picture of your service to start from.
Who completes the PIR?
The registered manager receives the email with the link to the form. The link is unique to your organisation and must not be shared, because sharing it can cause information to be overwritten or lost. The nominated individual receives a letter for information only. A location registered for more than one service type receives a PIR request for each type. If a service is taken over by a new provider, the new provider must complete a new PIR.
How does Tilly help with the PIR?
Tilly, the AI PIR manager from Insequa AI Solutions, turns a conversation about your service into a draft PIR in CQC-aligned language, with a written response for every qualitative section ready for your team to review before you paste it into CQC’s form. Watch the Tilly demo, no sign-up needed.