Six things you should know about ‘Excellent’ rated care homes.

There are more than 24,000 care homes in the UK and only 13% have been awarded an ‘Excellent’ 3 star rating.

Six things you should know about ‘excellent’ 3 star care homes:

1. What are star ratings?

2. Star rating categories.

3. How are star ratings decided?

4. What makes an ‘excellent’ care home?

5. How many care homes are rated ‘excellent’?

6. How often are care homes inspected?



1. What are star ratings? Star ratings work in a similar way to the hotel rating system. They aim to differentiate between the level of service and facilities offered in a care home. The star ratings do not reflect the price being charged by the care home.

2. Star rating categories. Care homes are categorised from 0 to 3 stars, with 3 stars being the highest. 0 = poor, 1 = adequate, 2 = good and 3 = excellent.

3. How are star ratings decided? Until April 2009 inspections of care homes were carried out by the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate (CSCI). This has now been taken over by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The inspection includes; interviews and surveys of residents, families and staff, an Annual Quality Assurance Assessment (AQAA) and the inspectors observations.

To ensure that ratings are consistent across the country the inspectors follow the Key Lines of Regulatory Assessment (KLORA). The CQC is introducing new regulations that will be implemented after April 2010 and will affect all care homes in England.

4. What makes an ‘excellent’ care home? The national minimum standards for care address 7 categories within care homes; choice of home, health and personal care, daily life and social activities, complaints and protection, environment, staffing and management and administration.

An ‘excellent’ rating will be awarded if at least half of these areas are rated ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ and no area is rated as poor.

5. How many care homes are rated ‘excellent’? There are over 24,000 care homes in the UK and 13% have been rated ‘excellent’ – approximately 2,600.

6. How often are care homes inspected? A 3 star care home at the present time would expect to be assessed every 3 years. The homes that do not perform to this standard will be assessed more frequently to help them to improve. However, the new regulations which will be enforced in 2010 have not yet outlined if this procedure will alter.

As with any governing body the rating system is not infallible and it is important to personally visit and make your own judgment about any care home you are considering.

In addition to this, any personal recommendations from the residents, relatives or visitors to the home will be an invaluable source of information.

http://www.best-care-home.co.uk/ is an online register that only lists 3 star 'excellent' rated care homes.  It also publishes personal recommendations from the residents, relatives and visitors of those homes to help you identify the home that will most suit your needs.