In England, a company that provides personal care to people in their own homes must be registered with the Care Quality Commission before its first regulated call. The application is not difficult, but it is long, it is checked line by line, and an incomplete one goes to the back of the queue. This guide sets out the steps in order, what each one is for, and the points where new providers lose months.
The regulated activity for home care is personal care: washing, dressing, toileting, help with eating and drinking, and prompting or administering medication, provided to people in the place they live. If your agency will do any of that, it must be registered with the CQC before it starts. Companionship, shopping, cleaning and sitting services on their own are not regulated, but you cannot advertise or accept personal care work on the strength of them.
You register two things: the provider, which is the company, and a registered manager, who is the named person responsible for the day-to-day running of the regulated activity. The provider also names a nominated individual, usually a director, who is the CQC's point of contact at company level. One person can be both in a small agency, if they genuinely do both jobs.
The CQC will not process an application for a company that does not yet exist or has nothing in place. Have these ready first:
The registered manager, the nominated individual and any individual partners need an enhanced DBS check with the adults' barred list, countersigned by the CQC. An existing DBS from a previous employer, even an enhanced one, is not accepted. Apply for these first: they are the gate for the rest of the application and they take weeks. The certificate must be less than twelve months old when the application is submitted.
The Statement of Purpose is the document the CQC uses to understand what you will do and for whom. It states the provider's details, the registered manager, the location, the regulated activity, the service user bands you will support, such as older people, people with dementia or physical disabilities, the aims and objectives of the service, and how the service is run. It is a legal document that must be kept up to date after registration. Write it plainly, make it match the policies and the application, and expect to be asked about every line of it.
The CQC expects the registered manager to have the qualifications, competence, skills and experience to run the service. In practice that means experience in a care setting, usually at senior carer, deputy or manager level, and either a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care or a commitment to work towards it. The manager's application is a separate form submitted alongside the provider's, with their employment history, qualifications, references and DBS.
If the owner is not the manager, recruit the manager before applying. An application with a manager still to be found is not assessed.
The application is submitted through the CQC's online portal. It asks, in effect, how you will meet each of the fundamental standards, and it wants evidence rather than intentions: the policies you will follow, how you will recruit and check staff, how you will train them, how care will be planned and reviewed, how medication will be managed and recorded, how you will know a call was delivered, how you will handle complaints and safeguarding, and how you will keep records secure and available.
Two things make this part faster. First, write the answers from your policies, so the two agree. Second, name the actual systems you will use. "Care records will be kept on the carer app and reviewed by the registered manager weekly" is evidence; "we will maintain accurate records" is not.
Once the application is accepted as complete, an inspector reviews it and interviews the registered manager, and often the nominated individual, usually by video call. The interview tests whether the person in front of them understands the service they have described: safeguarding scenarios, a medication error, a missed call to someone who lives alone, how a care plan is built from an assessment, how staff are inducted and supervised, how the manager will know the quality of care without being on every visit. Showing the working rota, call monitoring and eMAR on screen answers several of those questions at once.
The CQC's own target is to decide within ten weeks of accepting a complete application. New providers should plan for three to six months from submission, because applications are often returned for more information, interviews are scheduled around inspector capacity, and the DBS checks must be in hand before you start. From deciding to open to the first regulated call, six to twelve months is normal.
There is no fee to apply. Once registered, the provider pays an annual fee to the CQC, set by a published scheme and based on the type of service and the number of people supported. Check the current scheme on the CQC's website before you set your first year's budget.
Registration is the start of regulation, not the end. You must display your registration, notify the CQC of specified events such as serious injuries, safeguarding concerns and deaths, keep the Statement of Purpose current, and expect a first inspection within the first year or two under the single assessment framework. The CQC evidence guide sets out the five key questions and which records answer which. The systems you named in the application are the systems the inspector will ask to see.
The CQC regulates England only. In Wales, domiciliary support services register with Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) under the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act, and managers register with Social Care Wales. In Scotland, care at home services register with the Care Inspectorate and managers with the SSSC. In Northern Ireland, domiciliary care agencies register with the RQIA. The shape of each process is similar: a fit provider, a fit manager, a statement of what you will do, policies that match, and an assessment before you start. The starting a domiciliary care agency guide covers the whole route for all four nations.
The CQC aims to decide within ten weeks of accepting a complete application. Plan for three to six months from submission, and six to twelve months from first decision to first regulated call once company setup, recruitment of the manager, DBS checks and policies are included.
There is no application fee. Registered providers pay an annual fee set by the CQC's published fee scheme, based on the type of service and the number of people supported. The larger costs of starting are insurance, the manager's salary during registration, policies and training.
The regulations require the manager to be qualified, competent and experienced for the role rather than naming one qualification. In practice the CQC expects relevant care experience at a senior level and either the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care or a commitment to complete it.
Yes, if the address is where the service is managed from and records are held securely. Many new agencies start this way. Electronic records on a properly secured system make this much easier to evidence than paper files in a spare room.
The registered manager, nominated individual and any individual partners need an enhanced DBS with the adults' barred list, countersigned by the CQC. A previous employer's DBS is not accepted. Carers need an enhanced DBS with the barred list obtained by you as their employer.
It helps. The application asks how you will plan care, record medication, know that calls were delivered and keep records secure, and the interview asks you to show it. A working rota, call monitoring and eMAR are concrete answers. Carelo's up-to-15 band is £59 a month and the first month is free, so many providers set it up during the application.