Types of adult social care services in the UK
Find registered care homes, nursing homes, home care agencies, supported living and other adult social care services. Each page uses the category published by the four UK care regulators and keeps ratings and inspection dates attached.
| Type of care | Services | Places | What the register category means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home care services and agencies | 11,921 | 25,136 | Home care, often called domiciliary care, is delivered in a person's own home. CareFacts lists registered home care agencies with regulator ratings, inspection dates, operators and the areas they serve. |
| Residential care homes | 11,166 | 252,610 | Residential care homes provide accommodation and personal care but are not registered as nursing homes. CareFacts shows the registration, latest inspection evidence and nearby alternatives. |
| Supported living services | 5,562 | 23,092 | Supported living services provide regulated personal care to people living in their own or shared accommodation. The register covers the care provider; it does not describe tenancy terms or housing quality. |
| Nursing homes | 4,709 | 244,293 | Nursing homes provide residential personal care with nursing support. CareFacts lists registered nursing homes with regulator ratings, inspection dates, operators and registered places. |
| Care homes | 985 | 39,093 | Some regulator records identify a service simply as a care home rather than separating residential and nursing care. CareFacts preserves that published category and shows the evidence available for each service. |
| Extra care housing | 727 | — | Extra care housing combines independent accommodation with access to regulated personal care. The register describes the care service, not the quality or availability of the accommodation itself. |
| Day care services | 452 | 16,406 | Day care services provide registered support without overnight accommodation. The precise service offered varies, so CareFacts reports the regulator's category and links to the underlying record. |
| Hospices | 286 | — | Hospices provide specialist palliative and end-of-life care. CareFacts reports their registration, inspection dates and published regulator ratings without making clinical recommendations. |
| Nursing agencies | 217 | 930 | Nursing agencies supply registered nursing staff rather than residential accommodation. CareFacts lists the agencies recorded by UK care regulators and the inspection evidence they publish. |
| Shared Lives schemes | 199 | 18 | Shared Lives schemes arrange care and support in an approved carer's home. CareFacts shows the registered schemes and the inspection evidence published by their regulator. |
How to compare care services
Start with the type of care and location, then check the regulator’s latest inspection date, its published rating, and the operator’s wider record. Registration tells you what a service is approved to provide; it does not guarantee availability or make one service suitable for a particular person.