In the UK, there are four watchdogs responsible for inspecting and reporting on care providers. The reports are publicly available and give valuable insight into how well a home is managed and the level of care it offers.
In England and Scotland, the care regulators also give care providers a quality rating. The regulators in Northern Ireland and Wales don’t rate the providers they inspect, but you can read the inspection reports.
You can also use the reports to see whether:
points raised by inspectors have been addressed, or whether they reappear on subsequent reports
high staff turnover is mentioned, which could indicate unhappy staff
inspections have occurred frequently, which might be a sign of problems.
Find out more about the regulators and their reports in our article about quality and regulation of care providers using the links below.