Cookies

We use cookies on our website to make your experience as easy and simple as possible.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small data files that we place on your computer. They improve your experience by:

  • remembering settings and information (like the names of health and social care services you've searched for) so you don't have to keep re-entering them.
  • measuring how you use the website so that we can make sure it meets your needs.

Cookies do not identify you personally.

Managing the cookies on your computer

You can restrict or block cookies set by our website and others by changing the settings in your browser. Doing this however, may impact the way our website works for you in the future.

Visit About cookies to find out more about restricting or blocking cookies in different browsers.

You can also learn more about cookies at GOV.UK

Types of cookies and how we use them

First party cookies

First party cookies are our own. We control them and use them to provide information about the way you use our website.

CQC Provider Portal

The following cookies are only used in our portal for providers and managers to make notifications and applications to us.

OLSCookie 

This cookie is used to store session information for people logged in to their CQC accounts.

session

This cookie (e.g. SESSbb729cffd3a9572f9a38b587e0ed3f6e) keeps track of the currently logged in user (similar to OLSCookie above).

has_js

This cookie is used by our content management system to determine whether the user has Javascript enabled or disabled.

The main CQC site

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This cookie ensures that you are directed to the same server every time you click on a different webpage on our website. It expires after a session.

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Our search results pages contain in-page surveys to gather feedback on whether you have found what you’re looking for. These cookies ensure that you do not see a survey you have already completed again.

Third party cookies

Third-party cookies are set by other websites. We use their online tools to make our website work better for you.

Measuring website usage through Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to view statistics on the way you use our website. We can check:

  • how many people have visited our website and the webpages they view
  • how many times documents (such as inspection reports) have been downloaded
  • the number of keyword searches.

We use the following third party cookies set by Google Analytics.

_utma

This cookie generates the number of unique visits to our website. It expires after two years.

_utmb

This cookie generates a number of user sessions. It expires after 30 minutes.

_utmc

This cookie works with the _utmb cookie to generate a number of user sessions. It expires after 30 minutes.

_utmz

This cookie records the way you reach our website. It expires after six months.

_utmv

This cookie allows us to record custom variables in our tracking code to refine some of the information we receive from Google Analytics. It expires after two years.

_utmx

This cookie is used by Website Optimizer and ensures you have a consistent experience on our website. It expires after two years.

For more information, please read Google’s Privacy Policy.