Communication PolicyA Communication Policy written for your service
- Written for your organisation, not a template with your logo on it
- Read and approved by a person before it carries your name
- Verified against all 24 required elements of the legislation below
- Kept updated when the law changes, so it never quietly goes stale
No subscription needed. First year of updates included, £12 a year after that.
One-off, first year of updates included. Delivered within 2 working days of your details.
Trusted by UK care providers
Let's build your Communication Policy
Answer 7 quick questions, about three minutes, and we'll write this policy for your service, in your name, with your people. You can skip anything and add it later.
Asked once, reused for every policy you buy
That's everything we need
0 of 7 answered. You can add the rest at any point before we write it.
- Registered company name
- Trading name (if different)
- Service address
- CQC provider ID
- CQC location ID
- Registered manager
- Nominated individual
Your answers are saved on this device and carried into your order.
Built from the law, checked against the law
The legislation, CQC standards and guidance we analyse to write it.
Your Communication Policy is structured from these regulations, then verified against every required element of each one before a person signs it off. If the law changes, your policy is updated and you are told what changed and why.
Accessible Information Standard (DCB1605)
- Requires asking every resident or person using the service about their information and communication support needs at the first interaction or earliest opportunity (pre-admission assessment, first home visit, or initial care planning), with the person defining their own needs rather than staff inferring them from a diagnosis
- Requires recording needs as specific support requirements and methods (e.g. 'reads 18pt print', 'uses British Sign Language', 'needs easy read with photographs') rather than recording only the underlying impairment or disability label
- Requires use of the coded data items associated with the standard's four subsets where electronic systems use SNOMED CT, Read v2 or CTV3
- Requires that recorded needs are flagged with a highly visible alert (banner on electronic record, symbol on care plan cover, notation on handover sheet) that prompts staff to act whenever the record is accessed
- Requires sharing recorded needs with other NHS and adult social care providers (hospitals, ambulance services, GPs, other care services) where there is consent or permission to do so
- Requires meeting recorded needs in practice across all information and communications the service produces, including care plans, reviews, risk assessments, consent forms, medication information, menus, activity schedules, house rules, tenancy/contract documents, complaints procedures, and safeguarding information
Equality Act 2010
- Identifies all nine protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010: age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity
- States that reasonable adjustments for residents with disabilities are anticipatory and must be made before a resident who needs them arrives, not in response to individual requests
- Specifies the procedure for responding when a resident expresses discriminatory preferences about staff characteristics (race, religion, ethnicity) including that rosters will not be changed to accommodate prejudice, and that the response involves risk assessment, care plan documentation, supervision and manager intervention
- Distinguishes between discriminatory preferences and lawful requests based on dignity (such as requests for same-sex carers for intimate care under Schedule 9 occupational requirement exception) and require that the reasoning for accommodating or declining such requests is documented in writing
- Establishes the procedure for responding to harassment of staff by residents or third parties (including groping and racial abuse), including immediate management action, support for affected staff, and recognition of employer liability including anticipated direct liability for third-party harassment from October 2026
- Requires monitoring and analysis of discipline data, rota allocation data and promotion data by protected characteristics including ethnicity and sex to identify potentially discriminatory patterns or outcomes
Written for your service
What we ask you, so none of it is assumed.
Most policy packs are one document sold to everyone with a find and replace on the home name. Your Communication Policy is written from the legislation above and from your answers to the questions below. Where you have told us something, it says so. Where you have not, it sets out what must happen rather than claiming you already do it.
Your registered name, address, CQC numbers and who holds the key roles. About three minutes. Nothing else is asked before you buy.
Asked once in your own account and used across every policy you own, so a second policy never asks you the same thing twice.
Why it matters. A policy that claims you assess your premises annually, when you never have, is not a harmless overstatement. It is a signed statement handed to your inspector. We would rather write what you must do than guess what you already do.
How it is made
From your details to a policy you can stand behind.
The short questions above: who you are, your CQC registration, and the people this policy names.
One section per required element of the legislation, in your name, with your people.
Automated checks against every required element, then a person reads it before it ships.
When legislation changes, your policy is updated and you are told what changed and why.
Common questions
What you are actually buying.
What exactly do I receive?
A complete Communication Policy written for your organisation, in your dashboard and as a print-ready PDF on your own letterhead. It names your service, your registration details and your leads, because you gave us them.
Is this a template?
No. Each policy is written for the organisation buying it, structured from the legislation itself, verified against 24 required regulatory elements, and read by a person before it carries your name.
How quickly will I get it?
Within 2 working days of you completing the short questions above. Most arrive sooner.
What happens when the law changes?
We monitor UK care legislation continuously. When something affecting this policy changes, your copy is updated and you are told what changed and why. The first year of updates is included, then £12 a year per policy.
Can I edit the policy myself?
No, and deliberately so: we stand behind every word we approve. If something needs changing, tell us and we amend and re-verify it, so it always remains a document we can both defend to an inspector.
What if I need more than one policy?
Most services do. The Statutory Starter Pack covers the twenty policies every CQC-registered service is expected to hold, and the Complete Policy Library covers all 66.
Why CareStream
Policies written the way an inspector expects to read them.
Before you buy
What the document actually looks like.
Every section it contains, and a page of the real thing. We show the structure and the personalisation rather than the wording, because the wording is what you are paying us to write for your service.
Contents of your Communication Policy
- Purpose and scopewho it covers
- Legal and regulatory frameworkcited in full
- Definitions used in this policy
- Roles and responsibilitiesyour people, named
- Procedure, step by step
- Recording, reporting and escalation
- Training and competency
- Monitoring, audit and review
- Related policies and documents
- Version control and approvalsigned and dated
Section 4 · Roles and responsibilities
Who is accountable, by name
Overall accountability for this policy rests with your registered manager, supported by your nominated individual. Day to day responsibility sits with your named lead, who is the first point of contact for staff at your service address.
The remaining wording is written for the organisation buying it, so it is not shown here.
“The inspector asked for evidence and I had it on screen before she finished the sentence.”
Registered Manager · 48-bed nursing home, West SussexCompared
The four ways care services get a policy.
We have compared what each approach does rather than naming competitors, because products change and the comparison should still be true next year.
| CareStream | A policy pack | A consultant | A free template | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Questions asked at the point of purchase, so it is personalised rather than blank | ||||
| Written for your service, naming your manager and your leads | ||||
| Structured from the regulations, every required element checked before it is sent | ||||
| A branded companion document setting out the law it was written against | ||||
| Read and approved by a person before it carries your name | ||||
| Prints on your own letterhead with a sign-off and version block | ||||
| Named role holders update everywhere when the person changes | ||||
| Kept current when the law changes, and you are told what changed | ||||
| Turnaround stated before you buy | ||||
| Your staff can ask it questions in their own language | ||||
| What it costs | £39 to £79 per policy, one-off | £250 to £995 for the pack | A day rate, typically £400 upwards | Nothing |
Prices are the published rates of the common alternatives as at September 2026, for comparison only.
Training
Owning the policy is half of it
An inspector asks whether your staff understood it, not whether you hold it. Ninety eight modules written and kept current by us, to the same regulations, from £25.99 per staff member with no subscription.
