Linking Care Quality Commission as a source
This source is currently in alpha. The interface and available tables may change.
The Care Quality Commission connector syncs UK health and social care provider and location data into PostHog, so you can analyze it alongside your product data.
Prerequisites
You need an account on the CQC developer portal so you can subscribe to the Syndication API and obtain a subscription key.
Adding a data source
- In PostHog, go to the Sources tab of the data pipeline section.
- Click + New source and click Link next to this source.
- Enter your credentials (see Configuration below) and click Next.
- Select the tables you want to sync, choose a sync method and frequency, then click Import.
Once the syncs are complete, you can start querying this data in PostHog.
When linking Care Quality Commission, you'll need:
- Subscription key – create a subscription key from the CQC developer portal. Subscribe to the Syndication API product and copy its primary key.
- Partner code – optional but recommended. Requests sent with a partner code are allowed up to 2000 requests/minute, while requests without one are throttled harder. Request a partner code from CQC if you don't have one.
Sync modes
Each table can be synced in one of several modes, depending on what the source supports:
- Webhook (when available) – the source pushes changes to PostHog in real time. Fastest freshness, lowest ongoing cost, and the only mode that reliably captures updates and deletes.
- Incremental – only new or updated rows are synced on each run, using a cursor field (such as an
updated_attimestamp). Cheaper than a full refresh, but deletes aren't captured. - Append only – new rows are appended using a cursor field; existing rows are never updated. Ideal for immutable, append-only tables like event logs.
- Full refresh – the whole table is reloaded on every sync. Use it when a table has no reliable cursor or when you need deletions reflected.
See sync methods for a full explanation of how each mode works and how to choose between them.
This source is full refresh only.
Configuration
| Option | Type | Required |
|---|---|---|
Subscription key | password | Yes |
Partner code (optional) | text | No |
Supported tables
| Table | Description | Sync method | Incremental field | Primary key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
providers | Organisations registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide regulated health or social care in England. One row per provider, with its registration details, contact information, and the regulated activities and service types it is registered for. | Full refresh | — | providerId |
locations | Individual care locations (care homes, hospitals, clinics, GP practices, and other services) registered with the Care Quality Commission. One row per location, with its address, the provider that operates it, the regulated activities and service types delivered there, and its latest CQC ratings and inspection details. | Full refresh | — | locationId |
Troubleshooting
- If you see an invalid subscription key error, create a new key from the CQC developer portal, then reconnect.
- If access is not authorized, subscribe to the Syndication API product in the CQC developer portal, then reconnect.
If your sync is failing or data looks wrong, see the Data warehouse troubleshooting guide. If that doesn't help, contact support – we're happy to help.