The aim is that the new online information profiles will help people compare and choose care services.
The profiles will include information on every registered care provider, and include:
- details on services provided
- official reports from Care Quality Commission inspections
- comments from the public on their experience of care and services
- the ability for the public to give services star ratings (from next month)
- Ofsted-style ratings for care services (as they are developed).
Providers can add more detailed information, such as photos, details of their staff or menus, and the Department of Health will work with providers to make sure that information remains current and up to date.
NHS Choices will also feature revamped information that explains the ‘essentials’ of care, such as what people’s entitlements are, how to organise an assessment for care needs, where to go for independent advice, how to go about getting and planning care, and how to pay for it.
Norman Lamb said: “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.
“This new web information is a work in progress. As more providers add their details and more people comment on their profiles, there will be an even greater volume of knowledge and information available than ever before that will benefit everyone.”
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