What Is a Residential Care Home? Definition, CQC Registration and What Providers Must Provide
The provider’s view of the definition: what a residential care home is, how CQC treats it in law, and where it sits next to nursing homes, supported living and home care.
A residential care home provides accommodation together with personal care, such as help with washing, dressing, taking medicines and going to the toilet, but without a qualified nurse on duty to provide nursing care. In CQC terms it is registered for the regulated activity “Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care”, where accommodation and care are provided as a single package. A home that also provides nursing care is a care home with nursing, commonly called a nursing home.
Most searches for this term come from families choosing a home. If you run or plan to run one, the useful question is different: what makes a service a residential care home in the eyes of the regulator, and what does that mean for registration, staffing and inspection?
This guide uses CQC’s scope of registration guidance for accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care and the NHS description of care homes (NHS: care homes).
Key takeaways
- A residential care home gives accommodation and personal care as one package. It does not provide nursing care.
- CQC treats the single package as the test: if people can choose a different personal care provider while living in the accommodation, it may be supported living or extra care housing instead.
- A care home that employs nurses to provide nursing care is a care home with nursing. It is likely to need an additional registration.
- The fundamental standards, CQC key questions and notification duties apply in full to residential care homes.
- You cannot lawfully provide the regulated activity without registering. It is an offence.
In this guide
- What Is a Residential Care Home?
- How Does CQC Register a Residential Care Home?
- Residential Care Home, Nursing Home, Supported Living and Home Care: What Is the Difference?
- What Standards Apply to a Residential Care Home?
- What Happens When Needs Outgrow a Residential Care Home?
- How Can CQC Logic Help a Residential Care Home?
- Frequently asked questions
What Is a Residential Care Home?
The NHS describes residential homes as places that provide accommodation and personal care, such as help with washing, dressing, taking medicines and going to the toilet. Some also offer activities and day trips. They are run by private companies, voluntary or charity organisations or sometimes local councils.
The people who live there need support with daily living that they cannot manage at home, even with family or paid carers, but they do not need a registered nurse on duty day and night.
How Does CQC Register a Residential Care Home?
CQC registers residential care homes for the regulated activity Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care. Its guidance says this applies where residential accommodation is provided together with nursing or personal care as a single package, for example in a care home setting.
A single package means the person cannot choose to receive personal care from another provider while they live there. If accommodation and personal care are provided separately and people can choose a different provider, it may be a supported living or extra care housing service, and the regulated activity of Personal care may apply instead. See what is supported living.
A provider registered for this activity does not need to register separately for Personal care or Nursing care for the care it delivers in the home. If it also delivers personal care to people in their own homes, it must register separately for Personal care. See who needs to register with CQC and how to register. Carrying on a regulated activity without registration is an offence.
Residential Care Home, Nursing Home, Supported Living and Home Care: What Is the Difference?
| Service | Accommodation | Care | CQC regulated activity (usually) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential care home | Provided with the care as one package | Personal care; no nursing on duty | Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care |
| Care home with nursing (nursing home) | Provided with the care as one package | Personal care plus nursing care from qualified nurses | The same, and likely Treatment of disease, disorder or injury if nurses employed carry out treatment |
| Supported living | Tenancy or own home; care is separate | Personal care provided by a registered agency | Personal care |
| Home care (domiciliary care) | The person’s own home | Personal care visits | Personal care |
See what is a nursing home for the nursing differences, and our guide to care home vs domiciliary compliance.
What Standards Apply to a Residential Care Home?
Every registered care home must meet the fundamental standards in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and is assessed against CQC’s five key questions: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. See our guide to the fundamental standards. The ones inspectors test most in a residential setting include:
- Regulation 12 safe care and treatment, including medicines (see MAR charts) and falls (falls prevention)
- Regulation 18 staffing, with competent, supported staff in sufficient numbers
- Regulation 15 premises and equipment
- Regulation 17 good governance
What Happens When Needs Outgrow a Residential Care Home?
People’s needs change. Inspectors will ask how you assess needs before admission and how you decide whether you can still meet them. If someone needs nursing care or specialist support you cannot provide, you need a plan: refer for assessment, arrange support from community health services where appropriate, or help the person move to a care home with nursing. Record the assessment and the decision, because it is evidence of both person-centred care and good governance. See what is a care plan.
How Can CQC Logic Help a Residential Care Home?
CQC Logic gives a residential care home a single place for the governance evidence inspectors ask for: an audit schedule with pre-loaded audits (medication, care plan review, infection control, premises, safeguarding, training, supervision and more), incident, complaint and safeguarding logs, a notification tracker, a policy register and an inspector evidence pack. It supports your management, it does not replace your care planning system. See plans.
Sources: CQC: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care · NHS: Care homes
Run your care home governance from one place
CQC Logic brings your audit schedule, logs, notifications and evidence together, so you can show an inspector how your home is governed. See a sample improvement plan, view pricing or get started free.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a residential care home?
A residential care home provides accommodation and personal care, such as help with washing, dressing, taking medicines and toileting, without a qualified nurse on duty to give nursing care.
What is the difference between a residential home and a nursing home?
Both provide accommodation and personal care. A nursing home, also called a care home with nursing, always has at least one qualified nurse on duty to provide nursing care. Nursing homes usually cost more because they provide nursing care.
How does CQC define a residential care home?
CQC registers it for the regulated activity Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care, where accommodation is provided together with personal care as a single package and the person cannot choose another personal care provider while living there.
Does a residential care home need to register with CQC?
Yes. Providing the regulated activity without registration is an offence under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Can a residential care home provide nursing care?
Not on its own. A care home that provides nursing care through employed nurses is a care home with nursing, and CQC says it is likely to need to register for Treatment of disease, disorder or injury as well. In some cases district nurses delegate tasks, subject to CQC’s delegation guidance.
Is supported living the same as a residential care home?
No. In supported living, accommodation and personal care are provided separately and the person can choose a different care provider. In a residential care home they are a single package.