What Qualifications Do I Need to Open a Care Home
                     What Qualifications Do I 
Need to Open a Care Home?
Starting a home care agency can be an extremely rewarding business venture, but it comes with serious 
responsibility and hard work. People move into care homes for various reasons, including old age, health 
conditions and disabilities. The UK’s ageing population is increasing, placing the social care provision under 
more significant pressure.
The care home sector is constantly evolving and the CQC are constantly updating regulations and 
management guidelines. Hence, when setting up your own care home business, you must remain aware and 
compliant with CQC regulations. Our most recent post outlined essential updates to consider when 
establishing your business. For more information on Covid protocols and vaccination requirements in care 
homes, check out our blog on vaccine requirements. Further information on care and residential home 
policies and care home management forms can be found on ClouDoc’s website.
 
Legal Requirements for Running a Care Home in England
If you’re considering investing in the care home sector, it should be no surprise that it’s a highly regulated 
industry. Care home providers must comply with extensive and rigorous regulations to register and operate 
their business. You must be fully aware of the legal requirements.
CQC Requirements for Care Home Providers
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. 
Their role is to monitor, inspect and regulate services within the care sector to ensure minimum quality and 
safety standards are met.
The Care Quality Commission has produced a number of regulations that care home owners must obey. These 
include employing suitably qualified staff and keeping premises secure and safe from hazards, as well as 
meeting stringent health and safety standards.
How Frequently do the CQC Inspect Care Homes? 
The CQC inspects care homes at regular intervals, basing its checks on five key service areas: safety, 
effectiveness, leadership, the standard of care and responsiveness to residents’ needs. This ensures providers 
meet the required standards and maintain strong leadership.
The CQC inspection results in a care home being given one of four possible ratings:
 Good,
 Outstanding,
 Inadequate.
 Needs Improvement,

The CQC publish the care home ratings so that people can chose the best care home for them. The number of 
inspections will depend on the rating and feedback from residents, local authorities and relatives.
What Qualifications do I need to be a Registered Care Home Manager?
To set up a care home, you’ll need to make an application to register as the ‘care provider’ with the cqc
 policy and procedures. There are three legal entities that can be registered as the owner of a care home, but in 
all cases, you will need to nominate one individual who accepts responsibility for fulfilling this role.
If you do not have the required qualifications and experience to run a care home, you may have to appoint a 
manager. This individual share all legal responsibilities for meeting the requirements of the relevant 
regulations and will lead operations in your assisted living facility.
Becoming a Registered Manager
If you want to become a registered care home manager, you must apply to the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 
To be a registered manager, you must have good character, be mentally and physically capable of performing 
your role and possess the necessary skills and qualifications for the job. The nature of these skills and 
qualifications depends on what type of care environment you will be managing. For example, in child-care 
facilities it is suggested that managers hold a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and 
Children’s and Young People’s Services. 
If you need to recruit a registered care home manager, you will need a budget of over £20,000 a year. Finding 
and holding onto the correct type of person can be difficult, and there is high turnover within the industry. A 
professional qualification in nursing or social care will not guarantee that the applicant is fit to be a registered 
manager. Many registered managers have little to no nursing experience or qualifications but can demonstrate 
that their core leadership and management skills are transferable to a care setting. The individual applying to 
become the registered manager must be able to navigate ICT software, be commercially aware, be adaptable 
and be an excellent communicator.
At Care Agency Media, we have several workshops and programmes that can support you 
setting up care agency and enhance your CQC understanding, including:
 Understanding CQC
 Business Strategy 
 Business Coaching 
 Business Optimization 
Whether you want to start a new business or expand an existing one, the start-up pack is packed with 
everything you need to get going. We can help you to set up your own healthcare agency. 
Care Agency Start Up Pack is a perfect solution for anyone who would like to be a care worker or set up 
their own home care business. With our Advice, Support, Training, Tools and Resources, let us help you 
make it a reality.