How to Compare Care Homes: A Practical Guide for Families
Choosing a care home is not simply about finding an available room. Comparing homes properly means looking beyond the building, the brochure and the headline fee to understand the quality of care your relative is likely to receive.
Once a family decides that a care home may be appropriate, the next question is often:
“Which one should we choose?”
That can be surprisingly difficult.
Care homes can look similar on paper while feeling completely different when you visit. One may have a beautiful building but a disengaged atmosphere. Another may look less impressive but have staff who know every resident, understand their routines and provide genuinely person-centred care.
That is why comparing care homes needs to be more systematic than simply choosing the one with the nicest lounge or the best website.
It is the home that can safely and consistently meet the person’s needs while providing an environment in which they can live with dignity, comfort and as much independence as possible.
Before comparing homes, understand the person’s needs
You cannot properly compare care homes until you know what you are asking each home to provide.
Write down the person’s needs across areas such as:
- Personal care
- Mobility and transfers
- Falls
- Continence
- Medication
- Nutrition and hydration
- Dementia or cognition
- Communication
- Behaviour
- Night-time care
- Nursing needs
- Activities and social needs
If you are unsure whether residential or nursing care is appropriate, read Residential Care vs Nursing Care first.
How to compare care homes properly
Look beyond the building
A beautiful building can be pleasant, but it tells you relatively little about the quality of care. Look at how residents are treated, whether staff appear engaged and whether the atmosphere feels calm and respectful.
Observe the staff
Do staff know residents by name? Do they speak to them respectfully? Are they rushed? Do they appear to have time to respond to people? These observations can tell you a great deal.
Ask about staffing
Ask how many staff are normally on duty during the day and night, how the home manages sickness and whether agency staff are used. More importantly, ask how staffing levels are determined by residents’ needs.
Ask how care plans work
Find out how assessments are completed, how care plans are reviewed and how changes in needs are identified. Ask how families are involved.
Look at the residents
Do residents appear comfortable, clean, appropriately dressed and engaged? Are people sitting alone for long periods? Are activities taking place? Does the home feel occupied and lived in?
Understand the fees
Do not compare weekly fees alone. Ask what is included, what costs extra and whether fees can change if the person’s needs increase.
Check the inspection history
Read the latest CQC information and look at the wider history of the service. An inspection report is useful evidence, but it should form part of your overall assessment rather than being the only thing you consider.
Visit more than once if possible
A care home can feel different at different times of day. If possible, visit more than once and consider visiting at a busier time as well as during a quieter period.
What should you ask the care home?
Prepare your questions before visiting.
- How do you assess new residents?
- How are care plans developed?
- How often are care plans reviewed?
- What happens when someone’s needs change?
- How are medicines managed?
- How do you manage falls?
- How do you support people living with dementia?
- How do you manage continence needs?
- What happens overnight?
- What is the staffing level?
- How are agency staff used?
- What activities are available?
- How are families involved?
- What happens if the person becomes unwell?
- What is included in the weekly fee?
Our Choosing a Care Home guide goes into greater detail about the questions families should ask.
How important is the care home manager?
Very.
The registered manager can have a significant influence on the culture and quality of a home.
Ask how long they have been in post, how they manage staff, how they respond to concerns and how they monitor quality.
Notice whether the manager seems genuinely interested in residents and their individual needs.
What about staffing numbers?
Staffing numbers are important, but a simple staff-to-resident ratio does not tell the whole story.
A home with fewer residents and lower care needs may require a different staffing model from a home supporting people with complex nursing needs.
Ask how staffing is determined and what happens when residents’ needs increase.
Compare the environment — but don’t stop there
Consider:
- Bedroom size and privacy
- Bathrooms and accessibility
- Gardens and outdoor space
- Communal areas
- Noise levels
- Cleanliness
- Odours
- Lighting
- Temperature
- Accessibility for mobility equipment
But remember that a home can be attractive without providing excellent care.
Compare the food and activities
Food is part of care.
Ask whether residents can choose meals, whether dietary needs are accommodated and whether staff monitor eating and drinking.
Activities should also be more than something listed in a brochure.
Look at whether residents actually participate and whether activities are meaningful to the people living there.
Compare the fees properly
Ask every home for a clear written breakdown.
Find out:
- The weekly fee
- What is included
- Additional charges
- Personal expenses
- Hairdressing and chiropody charges
- Transport costs
- Additional care charges
- How fees change if needs increase
- What happens if funding arrangements change
Our guide to the true cost of a care home explains why the headline weekly price is not always the full picture.
Create your own comparison
After visiting each home, score it against the same criteria. For example:
- Care quality and approach
- Staffing
- Management
- Environment
- Food
- Activities
- Location
- Ability to meet specific needs
- Family involvement
- Overall confidence
Using the same criteria for every home makes it easier to compare them objectively rather than relying on whichever visit felt most memorable.
Want a structured way to compare care homes?
The Carentis Choosing a Care Home guide and checklist are designed to help families ask the right questions, identify potential red flags and compare providers more objectively.
What are the red flags?
Some things should make you stop and investigate further.
- Residents appear consistently disengaged or unattended
- Staff seem rushed or reluctant to answer questions
- The home is unusually quiet despite having many residents
- There are persistent cleanliness or odour problems
- Call bells appear to go unanswered
- The manager is unavailable or difficult to speak to
- You receive vague answers about staffing
- Fees and additional charges are unclear
- The home cannot explain how it would meet your relative’s specific needs
A single observation does not prove poor care. But a pattern should prompt questions.
How many care homes should you compare?
There is no magic number.
For many families, visiting several homes gives a much better sense of what is available and what feels right.
If one home appears clearly unsuitable, move on. If two or three seem promising, comparing them systematically can help make the final decision more objective.
The final decision
Choosing a care home is ultimately about finding the best fit for a particular person.
Think about what matters to them, not just what looks good to the family.
Would they enjoy the environment? Would staff understand their personality and routines? Can the home meet their current needs? Can it cope if those needs change?
Those questions are often more important than whether the reception area looks impressive.
Before you choose
Take your time where circumstances allow.
Check the evidence. Visit the home. Ask difficult questions. Understand the fees. Think about the person’s needs and wishes.
And if significant health needs are involved, consider whether NHS Continuing Healthcare could be relevant before assuming that the family will have to fund everything themselves.