Mariusz Waluk v Care Quality Commission

Facts

The Appellant, Mr Mariusz Waluk, applied to the Care Quality Commission for registration as the registered manager of The Dales care home. The Commission issued a Notice of Proposal to refuse registration on 17 March 2026 and, after considering the Appellant's representations, issued a Notice of Decision on 7 July 2026, deemed served on 9 July 2026. The 28-day statutory period for appealing under section 32(2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 expired on 6 August 2026; the Appellant lodged his appeal on 11 August 2026, five days late, and sought permission to bring it out of time. He explained that the email containing the Notice of Decision had been routed to a folder he did not routinely monitor and that he then forgot the decision was due. In later submissions he added that the care home's secretary had been absent from 8 June 2026 following her husband's death, leaving him, as Implementation Manager, with a substantial volume of additional administrative, financial and operational duties, and that two urgent matters concerning vulnerable individuals — securing alternative accommodation for a person facing homelessness, and a dispute over residential-care funding — had demanded concentrated attention. The Commission opposed admission of the late appeal. Two preliminary matters also arose: the Appellant's request to file supplementary written submissions with attachments, and his application, made on the morning of the hearing, to adjourn or to proceed on the papers on grounds of ill-health.