What a home care agency's website must show

Key takeaways

A home care agency website must display its CQC rating, and should show its registration, the services and hours it covers, the areas it serves, how fees work, how carers are checked and trained, and exactly how families start care. Families are anxious and comparing quickly, so clarity on these points decides who they call.

• CQC-registered providers must display their rating on their website.
• Show services, visit lengths, areas and fee basis plainly.
• Explain carer checks, training and continuity of carers.
• Give one simple route to start: a call, an assessment, then care.

What must a home care agency website show?

A home care agency website must display its current CQC rating and should state its registration, services, areas, fee basis, staff checks and how to start care. Global Bridge Labs (GBL) treats the CQC rating as the regulated item on top of the 30-item inventory, because the requirement is specific and checked.

• What information should every business website have?
• A care home homepage that families can trust
• Show your regulator and registration number online

What does CQC require on the website?

Providers registered with the Care Quality Commission must display their most recent rating on their website, as well as at their premises, once it is published. CQC's guidance explains how, including its rating widget. Add a link to the full inspection report so families can read it themselves.

• Qualifications on your website: which ones to list

What do families check first?

Families check whether you cover their area, whether you provide the type and level of care needed, how soon you can start, roughly what it costs, and whether carers are checked, trained and consistent. Answer these near the top of the homepage and service pages, in plain words.

• What first-time buyers of your service need to read
• Saying staff are DBS checked on your website

How should fees be explained?

Explain how fees work: hourly rates or ranges, minimum visit lengths, weekend and bank holiday rates, mileage, and what is included. Say whether you accept local authority funded clients. Clear fee information helps families plan and is consistent with consumer law expectations on transparent pricing.

• Prices with or without VAT: what your website shows
• Deposits and payment terms: say them on your website

What about safeguarding and complaints?

Show that you take safeguarding seriously: summarise your policy, how concerns are raised and how carers are vetted. CQC-registered providers must operate an effective complaints system, so publish how to complain and what happens next, including where to go if the family remains unhappy.

• A safeguarding policy on your website: who needs one
• Publish a complaints procedure on your website

When is less information better?

Less is better on the homepage. Families do not need your full policy library there; they need the rating, the area, the services and a phone number answered by a person. Put policies and detail on deeper pages, linked clearly.

• Which information on your website matters most?

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see in home care: the CQC rating sits in a PDF report linked from the footer, while the homepage shows stock photos and generic values. Moving the rating, areas and 'start care in three steps' to the top answers the questions families phone about.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Home care website checklist

• Display the current CQC rating.
• Link to the full inspection report.
• List services, visit lengths and areas.
• Explain how fees work.
• Describe carer checks and training.
• Publish safeguarding and complaints routes.

• Gender pay gap reports: does your website need one?
• What an insurance broker's website should include

Next step

Check that your current CQC rating appears on your website exactly as CQC's guidance describes. Then put your areas and fee basis on the homepage.