Posted on: Friday 4 April 2025
On 1 April 2025, Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) introduced a new ratings system for care services across Wales.
This new system aims to improve transparency in the care sector and help people make more informed choices about care services.
All care homes and domiciliary care services are inspected by the regulator- CIW and a publicly available report is produced following all inspections. This will remain the same with the difference being that in addition to a report their service will now be given a rating.
Care homes must clearly display their ratings at the entrance of their premises, similar to food hygiene ratings. Domiciliary care services will display ratings at their registered office.
Ratings will be in place for all inspections undertaken post 1 April, with CIW indicating it will take two years for all services to be inspected and rated.
Care services will be rated across four key themes:
- Well-being
- Care and Support
- Leadership and Management
- Environment (for accommodation-based services only)
Each theme will receive one of four ratings:
- Excellent
- Good
- Requires improvement
- Requires significant improvement
Cllr David Daniels, Torfaen Council's Executive Member for Adult Services and Housing, said: “As a council, we commission care homes and domiciliary care placements from the provider market, and as we do with the inspection reports, we will consider these ratings in all our contract monitoring and compliance activities.
“The new rating system will be helpful to the public, especially self-funders, as they can use it to make a relatively quick and informed decision on the best-suited care services for their loved ones."
Certain services are exempt from displaying the rating poster, including services for people under 18 years old, small care homes with four or fewer residents, and domiciliary support services provided from private homes.
For more information about the new ratings system, visit the Care Inspectorate Wales website.