These are the questions we hear most from families weighing up care options, from people joining the care workforce, and from providers researching software, gathered from real enquiries and common search terms. Each answer is deliberately short and direct, so it's useful whether you're reading it yourself or your assistant is reading it for you.
The basics: care homes and domiciliary care
What is domiciliary care?
Domiciliary care, also called home care, is professional care and support delivered in someone's own home rather than in a residential setting. A carer visits on a set schedule to help with washing, dressing, medication, meals or companionship, so the person can keep living independently at home.
What is a care home?
A care home is a residential setting where people live full-time with on-site staff providing daily support. Some care homes also provide nursing care for people with ongoing medical needs, usually called nursing homes.
What is the difference between a care home and domiciliary care?
The core difference is location and intensity of support. A care home offers round-the-clock on-site staff and accommodation, suited to continuous supervision or nursing need. Domiciliary care delivers scheduled visits to the person's own home, suited to regular but not continuous support, often alongside family involvement.
Cost questions
How much does domiciliary care cost in the UK?
Domiciliary care is typically charged per hour or per visit, commonly in the region of £20 to £30 per hour depending on region, time of day and the support needed, with live-in care priced as a separate weekly rate. Local authority funding may be available after a needs and financial assessment.
How much does a care home cost in the UK?
Care home fees vary widely by region and level of need, and are usually quoted as a weekly rate covering accommodation, meals and care. Nursing care generally costs more than residential-only care. As with home care, local authority funding may apply following an assessment.
Does the NHS or local council pay for care?
Funding depends on a means-tested financial assessment and a separate needs assessment carried out by the local authority. Some people qualify for full or partial local authority funding; others self-fund. NHS Continuing Healthcare is a separate, fully funded route for people with a primary health need, assessed independently of means.
Regulation and quality
Is domiciliary care regulated by the CQC?
Yes. In England, domiciliary care agencies must register with the Care Quality Commission and are inspected against the same five key questions as care homes: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led, assessed under the Single Assessment Framework. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use their own equivalent regulators, the Care Inspectorate, CIW and RQIA.
What is the CQC Single Assessment Framework?
The Single Assessment Framework (SAF) is the CQC's current inspection model, phased in from 2023 to 2024, replacing the older Key Lines of Enquiry. It assesses providers against 34 Quality Statements under the five key questions, built around continuous evidence gathered during normal operation rather than a single inspection snapshot.
How do I check a care home or home care agency's CQC rating?
CQC ratings for every registered provider are published free on the CQC website, searchable by name or location, alongside the full inspection report and any enforcement action.
Choosing and working in care
How do I choose between a care home and home care for a relative?
Start with a needs assessment, through the local authority or privately, to understand the level of support required. Home care tends to suit people who need help with specific daily tasks but want to stay in familiar surroundings; a care home suits people who need continuous supervision, complex nursing needs, or where safety at home can no longer be managed. Cost, family proximity and personal preference all matter alongside the clinical picture.
What qualifications do care workers need?
There's no single mandatory qualification to start as a care worker in England, but new staff must complete the Care Certificate, covering safeguarding, health and safety, communication and person-centred care, within their first 12 weeks. Many progress to a Level 2 or Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care. Registered managers need higher-level qualifications and their own CQC registration.
Can one provider run both a care home and a domiciliary care service?
Yes. Many UK care organisations run both under one group, sharing training, governance and sometimes care management software, provided each service is separately registered and inspected as required by the CQC or equivalent regulator.
Where digital care records fit in
How do digital care records help with CQC compliance?
Digital care records capture daily notes, medication administration, incidents and care plan reviews at the point of care, and can map each entry to the relevant CQC Quality Statement. Managers get real-time visibility of gaps and can export an evidence pack ahead of inspection, instead of assembling paper records under pressure.
Does domiciliary care software help prevent missed visits?
Yes. Software with GPS-verified clock-in and clock-out lets coordinators see in real time which visits are covered, and flags a missed or late visit immediately rather than relying on a phone call after the fact.
Is it worth digitising a small care service?
Usually, yes. Even small services benefit from cutting duplicate paperwork and having audit-ready evidence, and most digital care record platforms, including ServPatch, price by service size so cost scales with the number of people supported rather than requiring enterprise-level spend.