New care services
Starting a care business in the UK
Most new care businesses fail their first assessment on governance, not on care. This is the order we recommend to people opening a home care agency, a care home, a supported living service or a learning disability and mental health service.
1. Decide what you are registering for
Your regulated activities decide everything that follows — the policies you need, the manager qualifications, the notifications you must submit and how CQC will assess you. Personal care in someone's home, accommodation with personal care and supported living all carry different expectations.
2. Get the Registered Manager in place early
CQC registers the manager as well as the provider. Bring them in before the application rather than after: they will be interviewed on safeguarding, mental capacity, staffing, risk and how they will assure quality once the service is running.
3. Write policies you will actually follow
Generic bought-in policy packs are a common reason a new service struggles. Policies should describe your service, your staffing model and your local arrangements, and staff should be able to explain them in their own words.
4. Build recruitment and training the right way round
Safe recruitment records, right-to-work checks, DBS, references, induction and mandatory training need to be complete before anyone delivers care — reconstructing staff files later is where most inadequate Well-led findings begin.
5. Put quality assurance in before you open
Regulation 17 expects audits, action plans and evidence that you act on what you find. My Care Compliance gives a new service a ready-made audit schedule, evidence library, action plan and governance reports for £69.99 per month for the whole organisation, with the first month free.
6. Rehearse the first inspection
A mock CQC inspection before your first assessment tells you what an inspector would actually find — £495, or £395 for subscribers, with a CQC-style written report and a prioritised action plan.
See it with your own service
Book a free demonstration and we will walk through the platform using scenarios from a service like yours.