The Care500
The 500 care operators that run England
543 operators qualify. These are the top 500, ranked on CQC ratings, scale, inspection recency and trading history — and on nothing else. No operator can pay to move up.
Top 20 operators
| # | Operator | Index | Homes | Beds | Rating | Good+ | Rating age | Yrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Care UK | 84.4 | 346 | 23,755 | 3.06 | 92.4% | 2.9yr | 35.8 |
| 2 | Exemplar Health Care Limited | 81.4 | 58 | 1,730 | 3.02 | 93.9% | 1.7yr | 25.4 |
| 3 | Care South | 81.3 | 14 | 804 | 3.00 | 100.0% | 2.3yr | 35.9 |
| 4 | Somerset Care | 80.5 | 21 | 1,179 | 3.15 | 95.2% | 4.2yr | 36.0 |
| 5 | Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution | 80.3 | 14 | 820 | 3.28 | 100.0% | 6.6yr | 49.8 |
| 6 | Welford Healthcare | 79.8 | 34 | 2,199 | 2.96 | 93.8% | 3.3yr | 30.5 |
| 7 | Colten Care | 79.5 | 21 | 1,231 | 3.33 | 100.0% | 7.4yr | 38.7 |
| 8 | Prestwick Care | 79.4 | 16 | 889 | 3.31 | 100.0% | 3.6yr | 17.4 |
| 9 | Forest Care Limited | 79.2 | 5 | 300 | 3.25 | 100.0% | 2.4yr | 42.0 |
| 10 | Sanctuary Care Limited | 79.1 | 104 | 4,894 | 2.99 | 96.1% | 5.2yr | 31.2 |
| 11 | Hamberley Care Homes | 79.0 | 25 | 1,724 | 2.98 | 95.0% | 2.0yr | 16.2 |
| 12 | Carebase | 78.9 | 13 | 859 | 3.16 | 92.3% | 4.6yr | 54.1 |
| 13 | Orders of St John Care Trust | 78.2 | 52 | 2,964 | 3.01 | 94.0% | 4.8yr | 31.3 |
| 14 | Abbeyfield Society | 77.8 | 41 | 1,314 | 3.02 | 85.4% | 3.3yr | 69.9 |
| 15 | The Council of St Monica Trust | 77.3 | 4 | 380 | 3.46 | 100.0% | 4.5yr | — |
| 16 | BUPA Group | 76.5 | 121 | 7,136 | 2.91 | 86.7% | 4.0yr | 45.0 |
| 17 | Avery | 76.0 | 100 | 8,332 | 2.92 | 89.4% | 3.3yr | 26.2 |
| 18 | Barchester Healthcare | 75.9 | 241 | 15,139 | 2.92 | 88.6% | 3.8yr | 33.1 |
| 19 | Runwood | 75.9 | 66 | 4,637 | 2.85 | 83.9% | 2.3yr | 64.2 |
| 20 | Hampshire County Council | 75.7 | 19 | 922 | 3.00 | 100.0% | 6.5yr | — |
See all 500 ranked operators →
What this is
Two boards. The Care 500 ranks England’s care operators on CQC ratings, scale, how recently they were inspected and how long they have traded. It is built entirely from open government data and cannot be bought — that is the point of it. Every ranked operator is welcome to display its position: see the board.
The supplier directory lists 339 companies that sell into the sector. Listing is free. The top three slots in each of the 9 categories go to the highest standing monthly bid, and are labelled as paid.
Supplier categories
One finding worth your time
Of 13,618 rated care homes in England, 5,446 — 40.0%, holding 149,043 beds — were last inspected by CQC more than five years ago. A "Good" badge on a home's wall may describe a building, a manager and a staff team that have all since changed. Every listing here shows the date its rating was published, which is why.