Data on this site

Care services directory

The care services directory was devised by Which? as part of the Which? Later Life Care website. It enables you to search for local care homes, home care agencies and support groups for people living with dementia and carers of people with a mental, physical or health need. The directory contains data from the following sources.

For care homes and home care providers

This data is from the four UK care regulators, which inspect and support care services to ensure they are safe for the people who use them.

• In England: Care Quality Commission (CQC)
• In Northern Ireland: Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) 
• In Scotland: Care Inspectorate
• In Wales: Care Inspectorate Wales

Information provided by CQC and Care Inspectorate Wales contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v.2.0.

In addition, care homes have the facility to add descriptions of their services and facilities to the care services directory. We collect this through a form stored here on the Later Life Care website. Care home managers and administrators wishing to find out more can do so on our page for care service providers.

For support groups

We include data from the Alzheimer’s Society and the Dementia Connect Widget under licence. This allows consumers to find local dementia care and support services.

Food hygiene rating for care homes

The Food Standards Agency is an independent government department protecting public health and consumers’ wider interests in food. They make sure that food is safe, and as a part of their work provide food hygiene ratings for businesses in England, Northern Ireland and Wales in partnership with local authorities.

The inspection result ranges from 1 to 5 and reflects the standards of food hygiene found on the date of inspection or visit by the local authority. The food hygiene rating is not a guide to food quality. The levels of grade mean the following:

• 5: hygiene standards are very good
• 4: hygiene standards are good
• 3: hygiene standards are generally satisfactory
• 2: some improvement is necessary
• 1: major improvement is necessary
• 0: urgent improvement is required

Data updates for the directory

The data in the directory is updated monthly. See also Disclaimers, below.

Cost of care and eligibility checker

This tool enables consumers in England to find out how much they are likely to pay for care home fees or for home care, together with funding options and potential eligibility for local authority support. The source of data for fees paid by self-funders is the LaingBuisson surveys of care homes 2017–18.

Data updates for the cost of care and eligibility checker

The data is updated annually in the autumn.

Disclaimers

Which? is not a provider of, nor adviser on, any type of health care or its funding. No information or opinions on the Which? Later Life Care website are provided by way of health care advice or financial advice and are in no way intended to replace advice from a suitably qualified health care professional or independent financial adviser (as the case may be).

While every care has been taken in researching the information included on this website, no responsibility can be accepted for any inaccuracy or omission, or for any of the information being out of date. Residential and nursing homes and other care providers open, close, move and change status on a regular basis. While we make every effort to keep our database current using the sources above, there may be options available that are not shown, or some options shown may not be available, either permanently or temporarily. Due to data restrictions, we are unable to show address information of smaller care homes in Wales.

Users should confirm the information with the care home or body concerned and obtain confirmation of research findings from the original source. A care provider or funding options should not be chosen based solely on the information on this website. No responsibility is accepted for any loss resulting from reliance on the information contained within this website.

The site is aimed at users looking to make care choices in the UK. It contains information that is not relevant for users outside the UK.

Which? is not responsible for the content of external websites and we do not review or vet the contents of any websites linked to from this site.