{"schemaVersion":"1.0","type":"DataStory","id":"what-a-care-rating-can-hide","title":"What a care rating can hide","description":"A current label, an old inspection and no location-level rating are three different signals.","introduction":"CQC's register makes care quality visible, but a single headline colour can conceal inspection age, service type and the absence of a location-level overall judgement. This story keeps those dimensions separate and shows the denominator behind borough percentages.","category":"NHS","canonical":"https://londongraph.com/story/what-a-care-rating-can-hide","markdown":"https://londongraph.com/story/what-a-care-rating-can-hide/index.html.md","updatedAt":"2026-08-04T08:27:00.007Z","caveat":"No location-level overall rating is not a fifth quality band and can include multi-service locations rated below location level. Ratings are point-in-time judgements, not live monitoring.","evidence":[{"dataset":"cqc-rating-mix","graphSlug":"the-state-of-londons-care","label":"Latest register snapshot","text":"Registered London locations in each current location-level overall rating band.","shape":"categories","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/the-state-of-londons-care","claim":{"dataset":"cqc-rating-mix","graphSlug":"the-state-of-londons-care","label":"Latest register snapshot","text":"Registered London locations in each current location-level overall rating band.","headlineLabel":"2026-08-04","value":5854,"unit":"registered services","period":"2026-08-04","comparisonLabel":"2026-08-04","comparisonValue":3222,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-04T08:27:00.007Z","resourceUrl":"https://api-portal.service.cqc.org.uk/api-details#api=syndication","methodologyUrl":"https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/transparency/using-cqc-data","releaseLabel":"2026-08-04","sourcePublishedAt":null,"resourceChecksum":"cbaac871d5d8c236b1d0f987272cc8544449bf6e9d53f9bb02968e1f3b8e2b25"}}},{"dataset":"cqc-inspection-age","graphSlug":"where-london-is-cared-for","label":"Inspection age","text":"Registered services grouped by how long ago their latest published inspection took place.","shape":"categories","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/where-london-is-cared-for","claim":null},{"dataset":"cqc-service-ratings","graphSlug":"where-london-is-cared-for","label":"Service type and rating","text":"Broad primary service type crossed with the current location-level rating.","shape":"categories","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/where-london-is-cared-for","claim":null},{"dataset":"cqc-ratings-by-borough","graphSlug":"how-good-is-care-where-you-live","label":"Borough rated share","text":"Good or Outstanding locations as a percentage of locations with a published overall rating.","shape":"area","metric":"good_or_outstanding_percent","unit":"% of rated locations","graph":"https://londongraph.com/g/how-good-is-care-where-you-live","claim":{"dataset":"cqc-ratings-by-borough","graphSlug":"how-good-is-care-where-you-live","label":"Borough rated share","text":"Good or Outstanding locations as a percentage of locations with a published overall rating.","headlineLabel":"Sutton","value":98.92,"unit":"% of rated locations","period":"2026-08-04","comparisonLabel":"London median","comparisonValue":93.88,"caveat":null,"release":{"updatedAt":"2026-08-04T08:26:59.570Z","resourceUrl":"https://api-portal.service.cqc.org.uk/api-details#api=syndication","methodologyUrl":"https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/transparency/using-cqc-data","releaseLabel":"2026-08-04","sourcePublishedAt":null,"resourceChecksum":"cbaac871d5d8c236b1d0f987272cc8544449bf6e9d53f9bb02968e1f3b8e2b25"}}}],"sources":[{"name":"Care Quality Commission","url":"https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/transparency/using-cqc-data","graphSlug":"the-state-of-londons-care"}]}