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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. They work with other organisations to share information and improve the way services are regulated and keep those receiving care safe, providing assurance to the public of the quality of care in their area. By monitoring care homes / nursing homes, they make sure services meet an acceptable standard and outline the areas they need to improve.
CQC ranks each nursing home as either "inadequate", "requires improvement", "good", or "outstanding". A CQC nursing home evaluation can tell you which rating the home you are looking at meets. The Official CQC Report Review on the CQC website https://www.cqc.org.uk/ contains an independent professional review of a care home / nursing home that can help you compare services.
When choosing a care home, you want them to have an evaluation of at least ‘Good.’
The 5 key needs an inspector is looking for in a home, is for it to be:
Safe – protected from abuse and avoidable harm
Effective – people’s care, treatment and support achieves good outcomes, promotes a good quality of life and is based on the best available evidence
Caring – the service involves and treats people with compassion, kindness, dignity, and respect
Responsive – Services meet people’s needs and choices
Well-led – leadership, management and governance of the organisation assures the delivery of high-quality and person-centred care, supports learning and innovation, and promotes an open and fair culture.
The CQC aims to regulation that’s driven by people’s needs and experiences, focusing on what’s important to people and communities when they access, use, and move between services.
The health care regulator in Wales is Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW). You can visit their website at https://careinspectorate.wales/ and search for Welsh care services the same way you would for English homes on CQC.