How many services in England are rated this way?

617 care homes and home care agencies currently hold a Outstanding rating.

How current is this list?

Ratings are refreshed from the Care Quality Commission every month. Each service page shows the date its rating was published.

CQC rating

Rated Outstanding

Q: What does a CQC rating of Outstanding mean?

Outstanding means inspectors found the service performing exceptionally well. Only a small minority of services reach Outstanding. Inspectors have to find something exceptional, usually in how people are cared for and how the service responds to them.

617 services in England are currently rated Outstanding: inspectors found the service performing exceptionally well.

Only a small minority of services reach Outstanding. Inspectors have to find something exceptional, usually in how people are cared for and how the service responds to them.

All services Care homes Home care agenciesGood Requires improvement Inadequate

Region:All East Midlands East of England London North East North West South East South West West Midlands Yorkshire and The Humber

0 services in London

Reading a rating

What Outstanding means for your family

Fewer than one in twenty services reach Outstanding, and inspectors have to be able to say what is exceptional about it, not just that nothing was wrong. Most Outstanding ratings are earned on the Caring and Responsive questions: how people are treated, and how the service adapts to them.

Outstanding ratings can be old. The CQC does not re-inspect well-rated services on a fixed cycle, so check the date on each page and whether the manager named in the report is still there.

Another option

Or hire a private carer directly

PrimeCarers introduces you to self-employed carers near you. You read their profiles, talk to them and choose who comes into your home. Interviewed, ID and DBS checked, from about £20 an hour, with no agency in between.

Find a private carer How PrimeCarers works