Care and support minister launches online care homes comparison

The resource, Provider Quality Profiles, will be part of the NHS Choices website and offer information on; official reports from Care Quality Commission inspections; comments from the public on their experience, including links to existing comment sites; the ability for the public to give services star ratings; and Ofsted-style ratings for care services as they are developed.

The aim of the online resource is to become fully populated and offer a wide range of information.

NHS Choices is also revamping information that explains the essentials of care, such as entitlements, how to organise assessments for care needs, where to go for independent advice and funding.

Care and support minister Norman Lamb said: "A fully open, transparent and comprehensive service like this will leave bad care nowhere to hide. This means better standards and quality of care across the board.

"By reading about the experiences of others, people can make confident choices about their care and help providers know where to make improvements, if needed."

David Behan, chief executive of the Care Quality Commission, said people often did not know whether a service was good or not and up-to-date accurate information was key to making true choice a reality.

Lamb added: "Bringing together all this information will give people facing difficult decisions about care an easy way to compare local care options, putting them more in control."

The website will also allow providers of care to reply to critical comments from the public.

The Department of Health is working with providers of care to ensure information remains current and up to date.

Currently 8,000 providers of care have started the process of editing their profiles.

The website will cover residential care, home care services or other forms of care such as Supported Living and ‘Shared Lives' care.

The resource also works in partnership with the CQC.