What service is primarily regulated by the Care Quality Commission?

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England, tasked with ensuring care services meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. Among its primary responsibilities is the regulation of care homes for the elderly. This includes monitoring and inspecting these facilities to ensure they provide safe, effective, compassionate, and high-quality care to elderly residents. The CQC assesses various aspects of care homes, such as hygiene, staffing levels, the suitability of the environment, and the well-being of residents, thus playing a pivotal role in maintaining standards within the elderly care sector.

In contrast, while children's homes and foster care systems are important areas of care, they are typically overseen by different regulatory bodies that focus specifically on child welfare and protection. Social housing developments, meanwhile, fall under local planning and housing authorities rather than health care regulation, focusing more on the provision of housing rather than the quality of care services. Therefore, the focus of the CQC’s regulatory role is clearly on care homes for the elderly, making it the correct choice in this context.