Ten questions to ask when choosing a care or supported living provider

Choosing a care or supported living provider is a big decision, and it is hard to know what good looks like beyond a headline inspection rating. These questions help you look a little deeper.

Start with regulation and safety

Ask to see the current CQC rating for the specific service you are considering, not just the organisation in general. Ask how the provider recruits, including DBS checks and references, and how it handles safeguarding and complaints. A good provider will answer openly and show you its policies.

Then ask about the person

The questions that tell you the most are about everyday life. How are care plans personalised, and who is involved in writing them? How does the provider keep the same staff around a person, so trust can grow? How does it involve families and work with other professionals? What is its approach to communication and to supporting someone whose behaviour can challenge?

And about how they keep getting it right

Ask how the provider trains and supports its team, how it reviews care as needs change, and how it listens to feedback and acts on it. Ask what happens out of hours, and how decisions are made when someone may not be able to make a particular choice themselves.

A simple test runs through all of this: does the provider talk first about the person and their life, or first about its services and its processes? The best providers always start with the person.

Trust your impressions too

Pay attention to how staff speak about the people they support, and how comfortable people look. Numbers and policies matter, but warmth and respect are things you can often sense.

If it would help to talk any of these questions through, including the answers we would give for our own service, please get in touch.