What is the difference between a care home and a nursing home?

A care home provides a place to live along with personal care, meaning help with washing, dressing, meals and the pattern of the day. A nursing home offers the same alongside registered nurses on duty, which becomes necessary when there are wounds to manage, complex medication or a condition needing clinical oversight. Homes are registered with the Care Quality Commission for one or both, and each profile states which. Home care is different again, since carers come to the person rather than the person moving.

What should I ask a home care agency in Cheshire East before agreeing anything?

Ask how many different carers are likely to attend across a month and whether you will be told in advance about an unfamiliar face. Ask how the agency handles sickness and late running, and at what point the office contacts the family. Check what training staff hold for the condition in question, whether that is dementia, diabetes or safe moving and handling. Ask finally what notice either side must give, and whether there is a charge for ending the arrangement.

How do I arrange a care needs assessment in Cheshire East?

Contact Cheshire East Council and ask adult social care for a care needs assessment, either for yourself or for a relative who consents to it. A general practice or a hospital discharge team can also refer, which is the usual route when a stay in hospital has prompted the question. The assessment is free, is not means tested and looks at what someone can manage alone and where support is needed. Ask for the outcome in writing, because everything that follows is built on it.

Can Cheshire East Council help pay for care at home?

It can, where the needs assessment finds eligible needs and the financial assessment shows the person cannot meet the cost themselves. Income and capital are both weighed against national thresholds, and most people who qualify still pay something towards their support. Help may arrive as a commissioned package or as a direct payment that leaves the choice of agency with the family. Anyone above the threshold arranges and funds care privately, while keeping the right to an assessment and to advice.

How far ahead should we start looking for home care?

Look as soon as the difficulty is clear rather than waiting for a fall or a hospital admission to force the pace. The busiest call times fill first, so a package needing early mornings and evenings takes longer to arrange than one built around the middle of the day. Where you can, allow a few weeks for the assessment, quotes and an introductory visit. If a discharge date is already set, say so plainly, as that changes how quickly things move.

Home Care in Cheshire East

Q: Which home care agencies in Cheshire East are listed on this page?

Ninety agencies registered to deliver care at home in Cheshire East are gathered here, all regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Six hold an Outstanding rating, forty seven are rated Good, eight are rated Requires Improvement and twenty nine are not yet rated. Each entry links to a profile carrying the inspection report in full. Start with rating if you like, but confirm coverage of your address before going further.

Cheshire East has 93 CQC registered home care agencies. 49 are rated Good, 6 Outstanding, 8 Requires improvement, and 30 have not yet been rated. 55 of the 93 were last inspected more than three years ago.

Source: Care Quality Commission register, kept up to date as ratings change.

Cheshire East at a glance

What the numbers say about home care in Cheshire East.

Hourly care visits, North West: £25.00 to £28.90 an hour. Middle half of prices from 9 agencies.
People aged 75 and over: 51,700. Rising to 60,600 by 2035, up 17%
Living with dementia, aged 65 and over (estimate): 6,700. Rising to 8,600 by 2035, up 28%
People aged 85 and over: 13,900. Rising to 21,300 by 2035, up 53%
Dementia diagnosis rate: 67%. The NHS ambition is 67%.
Agencies in Cheshire East, last 12 months: 4 opened, 2 closed

Powered by Orrery Intelligence. Market model built 22 October 2026 (ONS 2022 based population projections, CQC register), published care home prices, council planning records.

Choosing a Home Care Agency in Cheshire East

An agency is only ever as good as the rota behind it, so the questions worth asking early are practical ones about staffing rather than general promises about values. Find out how many carers the agency employs directly, how far its coverage stretches from your address and whether it is currently taking on new clients in your area at the times you need. Capacity is the thing most often glossed over in a first phone call, and it is the thing most likely to unravel a package three weeks in.

Cover, continuity and timing

Ask what happens when a regular carer is ill, on leave or delayed at a previous call, and how quickly the office tells the family. Ask whether the visit times you agree are guaranteed slots or flexible windows, because someone who needs help to get up cannot wait comfortably for a window that stretches across the morning. Ask how the care plan is written, who updates it and whether the family can see the notes from each visit. An agency that gives you straight answers on all three is usually the one that will ring you before you have to ring them.

What the ratings in Cheshire East tell you

Ninety agencies are listed here. Six hold an Outstanding rating, forty seven are rated Good, eight are rated Requires Improvement and twenty nine are not yet rated. An Outstanding rating is worth noticing, but it applies to the agency as inspectors found it on a particular date and not to every carer on every round. Read the report behind any rating, including the ones you are inclined to dismiss, since a Requires Improvement judgement sometimes rests on paperwork that has since been put right.

Assessments, Funding and What Care at Home Costs

Getting a care needs assessment

Anybody who appears to need support is entitled to a care needs assessment, free of charge and without regard to income or savings. An assessor considers washing and dressing, meals, medication, moving safely about the house and how much a relative is already doing, then records what help is needed and how often. Ask Cheshire East Council adult social care for one, and where a relative is providing the care, request a carer's assessment for them at the same time. The written outcome is useful even to families paying privately, since it gives each agency the same brief to price against.

Paying for support

Where the council contributes, a financial assessment of income and capital determines the person's own contribution. Care may then come as a package the council arranges, as a direct payment used to buy support from an agency of your choosing, or as a purely private arrangement. Hourly and per visit charging are both common, live in care is normally a weekly fee, and rates rise for evenings, weekends and bank holidays. Get the charges in writing, including any minimum call length and the notice period for cancelling a visit, before anything is agreed.

93 home care in Cheshire East (showing 1–50)

Forevermore Care · Congleton, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Cheshire Home Care Solutions · Knutsford, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Alice Chilton In-Home Care Services · Wilmslow, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Aceso Homecare · Sandbach, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Eureka Care and Support · Middlewich, Cheshire East
Ivy lynn Support and Care- Bollington · Macclesfield, Cheshire East
Blessed Caring Partnership · Wilmslow, Cheshire East
Hall O’Shaw Supported Living · Crewe, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Caremark (Cheshire North East) · Handforth, Cheshire East · CQC Requires improvement
Alcedo Care · Crewe, Cheshire East
Affinity Homecare · Wilmslow, Cheshire East · CQC Good
CCAH · Middlewich, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Cera Cheshire · Crewe, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Daski · Crewe, Cheshire East
Cheshire · Sandbach, Cheshire East
Able Living Care Services · Stockport, Cheshire East · CQC Good
MMT Healthcare · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Sylk Care · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
South Cheshire Senior Care · Nantwich, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Vision Beyond Autism · Wilmslow, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Next Step Domiciliary Care · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Supported Living Network · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
SureCare Central Cheshire · Nantwich, Cheshire East · CQC Good
SureCare · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Visiting Angels · Macclesfield, Cheshire East
Compassionate Healthcare aka Scope House · Crewe, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Carefound Home Care · Wilmslow, Cheshire East · CQC Outstanding
Belong at Home Domiciliary Care Agency · Crewe, Cheshire East · CQC Outstanding
Dovecross Health Care · Crewe, Cheshire East
Helping Hands · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Bluebird Care Domiciliary Care Agency · Crewe, Cheshire East · CQC Outstanding
Cheshire Rural Care · Nantwich, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Jordangate House · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Crossroads Together Midlands · Congleton, Cheshire East · CQC Good
SOS Homecare · Crewe, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Health Care Assistance · Crewe, Cheshire East
Suite 7A Grosvenor House · Congleton, Cheshire East
Belong at Home Domiciliary Care Agency · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
YourLife · Macclesfield, Cheshire East
Blueberry Care · Middlewich, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Happy Valley Home Care · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Walfinch Greater Manchester South · Wilmslow, Cheshire East · CQC Good
React Homecare – Staffordshire · Congleton, Cheshire East · CQC Requires improvement
Ablewell Care · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Kalina Care · Crewe, Cheshire East
Angels At Home Care Services · Wilmslow, Cheshire East
Council Domiciliary Care Service · Macclesfield, Cheshire East · CQC Good
Platinum Care Cheshire · Sandbach, Cheshire East · CQC Good
FAB Social Care · Stoke-on-trent, Cheshire East
Care Plus Homecare Services · Handforth, Cheshire East · CQC Good

What home care costs

Type of care	What it costs
Hourly care visits, North West Middle half of prices from 9 agencies. Median £26.58. Shown for North West because too few Cheshire East agencies publish a rate.	£25.00 to £28.90 an hour
What Cheshire East pays Average hourly rate, October 2026.	£24.37 an hour
Homecare Association minimum price 2026 to 2027. The Association's estimate of the lowest price that covers the cost of delivering care. It is not a legal minimum.	£34.42 an hour
Live in care, England Middle half of prices from 62 agencies. Median £1,455.	£1,250 to £1,668 a week

Published prices come from agencies that publish rates, so treat them as a guide. Ask the agency for its own price. Powered by Orrery Intelligence.

Inspected most recently

Happy Valley Home Care Limited, 7 September 2026, Good
Amron Home Help Ltd, 7 August 2026, Good
MMT Healthcare Limited, 21 July 2026, Good

Longest since a report

Crewe & Nantwich Supported Living Network, 20 October 2017, Good
Cherished Care Services, 6 March 2018, Requires improvement
Right at Home South Cheshire, 14 April 2018, Outstanding

Frequently asked questions about home care in Cheshire East

How many home care agencies are there in Cheshire East?

Cheshire East has 93 CQC registered home care agencies: 6 Outstanding, 49 Good, 8 Requires improvement, 30 not yet rated. Counts come from the CQC register and are kept up to date as ratings change.

How much does home care cost in Cheshire East?

Hourly care visits, North West: £25.00 to £28.90 an hour. Middle half of prices from 9 agencies. Median £26.58. Shown for North West because too few Cheshire East agencies publish a rate. Published prices come from agencies that publish rates, so treat them as a guide. Ask the agency for its own price.

Which home care agencies in Cheshire East were inspected most recently?

Happy Valley Home Care Limited (7 September 2026), Amron Home Help Ltd (7 August 2026) and MMT Healthcare Limited (21 July 2026) have the most recent CQC reports.

Local care news in Cheshire East

The Belvedere registered as a 41 bed care home in Cheshire East (5 November 2026)

More local care news for Cheshire East