Adult Services


Care standards

The Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. They aim to make sure better care is provided for everyone, whether that’s in hospital, in care homes, in people's own homes, or elsewhere.


The Commission

The Commission regulates health and adult social care services, whether provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies or voluntary organisations. They also seek to protect the interests of people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act.

Inspection reports

The Commission publish independent reports and quality ratings on all your local care homes, home care and other registered services, plus address and contact details, which you can download for free.

The inspection report will set out what the care service does well and what it needs to improve. It will also give you some general information about the care service which will help you get a feel for the place

Non-registered services

If you do not need either personal or nursing care, you may wish to contact organisations that offer other home care services. At present these services do not have to be registered or inspected. They include domestic help, shopping, transport/drivers, companion/social, sitting services, gardening and meals. Some are run by voluntary agencies such as Age Concern, others by private businesses. You may wish to ask about police checks of their staff and ask for references before you buy unregistered care services.

Contact the Care Quality Commission (CQC)

For general enquiries

For enquiries including Health and Adult social care

Approved Domiciliary Care Providers

Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council maintain a list of Approved Domiciliary Care Providers for community care funding purposes.  This means that the Councils already have bought, or may buy, home care services from them. These approved providers of care are all currently registered with the Commission of Social Care Inspection (CSCI).  

Preferred list of Residential Care Providers

The County Council through its Adult Services Department maintains a Preferred List of Residential Care Providers for community care funding purposes. These providers have accepted the Terms of Inclusion on Preferred List of Residential and Nursing Care Providers agreed between Hampshire County Council and representative bodies of the care industry. This form of contract is also used by Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils. The Preferred List covers independent sector providers of residential services to adults and older people.

Membership of Local and National Organisations

Some organisations providing help at home belong to local or national associations. The two mentioned in the lists are the Hampshire Domiciliary Care Association and the United Kingdom Home Care Association, which both promote high standards of care and have a code of practice / code of conduct that members agree to follow.