Quality and regulation of care homes
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By law, all care homes in the UK must provide services to minimum standards of safety and quality.
On this page you can find information on the following subjects:
1. Regulators in the UK
2. Minimum standards in care homes
3. Care home inspections
4. Care home inspection reports
Regulators in the UK
Each country in the UK has its own independent regulatory body responsible for keeping a register of care homes, and for checking them to ensure that they meet national standards.
In England: the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
In Northern Ireland: the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA)
In Scotland: the Care Inspectorate
In Wales: the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW)
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These national regulators are independent watchdogs responsible for:
setting national minimum standards for care homes
monitoring and inspecting care homes to make sure the services they provide come up to scratch.
Minimum standards in care homes
Each of the four regulators has set minimum standards that a resident of a care home should expect. These standards are documented and can be downloaded from the respective regulator’s website. The following represents a broad summary of the type of rights expected for residents in a care home. Your relative should be: