Consultancy
CQC readiness, audits, service development and practical operational improvement.
Discuss your needs →Practical health and social care consultancy
Empowering care providers.
Strengthening services.
Improving outcomes.
LQC provides experienced, hands-on support to help providers navigate compliance, strengthen operations and build sustainable, high-quality services.
25 yearscombined sector experience
Two foundersone joined-up approach
Across Englandremote and on-site support
How we can help
Support shaped around your service.
From focused advice to hands-on operational support, LQC works alongside you to make improvement practical and sustainable.
Recruitment Support
Recruitment drives, safer recruitment processes, interview frameworks and onboarding systems.
Discuss your needs →Interim Management
Experienced operational and administrative support when your service needs stability, capacity or direction.
Discuss your needs →Compliance & Governance
Policies, audits, quality assurance, evidence systems and clear compliance improvement plans.
Discuss your needs →New Service Setup
Mobilisation support, registration preparation, operational systems and service-readiness planning.
Discuss your needs →Healthcare Administration
HR processes, onboarding, back-office systems and reliable compliance administration.
Discuss your needs →From idea to inspection-ready
Setting up a new care service?
Starting a service involves much more than completing an application. LQC can support the full journey, helping you build the policies, recruitment systems, governance and day-to-day processes needed to operate safely and sustainably.
Discuss your new serviceSupport can include
- CQC provider and Registered Manager application support
- Statement of Purpose and registration preparation
- Tailored policies and standard operating procedures
- Safer recruitment, interview and onboarding frameworks
- Risk assessment, care planning and governance tools
- Operational and back-office systems
- Mock inspection and readiness assessment
- Post-registration support while the service embeds
About LQC
Built on experience.
Driven by purpose.
LQC was founded from real operational experience in health and social care.
We understand that quality and compliance are not simply documents or inspection-day exercises. They should strengthen the way a service works every day — for the people receiving support, the teams delivering it and the leaders responsible for it.
Our approach is collaborative, honest and focused on solutions that work in the real world.
Meet your consultancy team →The people behind LQC
25 years’ combined experience.
One shared standard.
LQC is led equally by sisters Vanessa and Natalie Lofthouse. Together, they combine frontline and senior operational understanding with strong quality, compliance, recruitment and business-administration expertise.
Co-Founder · Operations & Compliance
Vanessa Lofthouse
Vanessa brings extensive experience in health and social care, including six years founding and running a registered care company. She currently works at senior operational level within supported living and understands the responsibility of building services, leading teams and meeting regulatory expectations because she has done it herself.
Her work spans CQC registration and inspection readiness, new-service mobilisation, operational turnaround and the relationships that sit behind safe, effective care delivery.
- CQC inspection, registration and rating improvement
- New-service setup and mobilisation
- Supported living pathways and commissioning
- Safeguarding, risk and performance management
- Interim management and operational leadership
Co-Founder · HR, Recruitment & Policy
Natalie Lofthouse
Natalie brings extensive health and social care experience, with broad expertise across HR, recruitment, policy development and the administrative systems that help care services remain organised, accountable and compliant.
She turns complex workforce and regulatory requirements into clear documentation, reliable processes and practical systems that managers and teams can use consistently.
- HR processes and workforce development
- Recruitment drives and safer recruitment systems
- Policy and standard operating procedure development
- Onboarding, retention and organisational change
- CQC-compliant documentation and administration systems
Working together
Vanessa and Natalie bring complementary strengths to every piece of work. This means LQC can look at the whole service — not only what the evidence says, but how leadership, people, systems and practice work together in reality.
Our approach
Clear support from first conversation to lasting improvement.
There is no one-size-fits-all package. We take time to understand the service, agree the priorities and provide the level of support that is genuinely useful.
Listen
We begin with your service, current pressures and the outcome you need.
Understand
We review the relevant practice, systems and evidence to identify what is working and where support is needed.
Strengthen
We agree practical priorities and work alongside you to put sustainable improvements in place.
Embed
We help make expectations clear so improvements can be maintained after our involvement ends.
Who we support
Working with care providers at every stage.
Whether you are entering the sector, preparing for inspection, responding to concerns or growing across several services, support is shaped around where you are now.
New providersCQC registration, service setup, policies and operational foundations.
Established providersAudits, governance, workforce systems and continuous improvement.
Providers under pressureFocused action planning, rating recovery and practical turnaround support.
Growing organisationsConsistent policies, HR frameworks and compliance infrastructure across services.
Registered ManagersInspection preparation, systems support and clear, manageable priorities.
Commissioners and partnersIndependent audits, spot checks and specialist improvement support.
Free resource — coming soon
CQC Readiness Checklist
A practical, step-by-step checklist to help care providers prepare with clarity and confidence.
Let’s talk
Need support with your service?
Tell us where you are now, what feels difficult and what you want to achieve. We’ll help you identify the right next step.
Your first 30-minute discovery conversation is free and without obligation. After that, any recommended work will be set out clearly, with an agreed scope, deliverables and timescale before you commit.
Support across England · Remote and on-site consultancy