UK Coverage

Oxara supports healthcare and care organisations, investors, purchasers, lenders and professional advisers across the UK.

Healthcare and care regulation is not uniform across the four UK jurisdictions. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have distinct regulatory frameworks, regulators, legislation and requirements.

Oxara approaches each instruction against the regulatory framework applicable to the service and jurisdiction concerned.

Regulatory support across the UK

Regulatory expectations, registration requirements, inspection processes and enforcement frameworks differ across the United Kingdom.

An approach appropriate to a CQC-regulated service in England cannot simply be transferred to a service regulated in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Oxara considers the applicable regulatory framework alongside the organisation’s governance, operational position and the purpose of the instruction.

Our work remains director-led, with senior consultants and specialist expertise matched to the requirements of each instruction and regulatory framework.

England

Healthcare and adult social care services in England operate within the regulatory framework overseen by the Care Quality Commission where the activities provided require registration.

Oxara supports providers and professional clients with regulatory assurance, registration and commissioning, inspection readiness, governance and compliance, enforcement support, operational improvement and regulatory due diligence.

Scotland

Scotland has its own regulatory framework for care and independent healthcare.

Registered care services are regulated by the Care Inspectorate, while independent healthcare services falling within the relevant statutory framework are regulated separately by Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Oxara provides independent regulatory, governance and operational support for providers, owners and professional clients working with Scottish care and healthcare services.

Wales

Healthcare and social care services in Wales operate within a distinct Welsh regulatory framework.

Care Inspectorate Wales and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales have separate regulatory responsibilities, and the applicable requirements depend on the nature of the service and its registration position.

Oxara approaches work in Wales against the relevant Welsh regulatory framework rather than applying an England-based regulatory model.

Northern Ireland

Health and social care services in Northern Ireland operate within a separate regulatory framework overseen by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority where registration and regulation apply.

Oxara considers the Northern Ireland regulatory framework, the nature of the service and the purpose of the instruction when providing independent regulatory, governance and operational support.

Working across jurisdictions

Organisations, investors and professional advisers may have interests spanning more than one UK jurisdiction.

Where an instruction crosses regulatory boundaries, Oxara considers each service against the framework that applies to it rather than treating UK healthcare and care regulation as a single system.

This is particularly relevant to portfolio assurance, acquisitions, investment, operational due diligence and governance review where services may be subject to different regulators and statutory requirements.