Which nursing homes are listed for Hemel Hempstead?

Five nursing homes cover Hemel Hempstead: St Pauls Care Centre, Queensway House, Alexandra Care Home, Lime Tree Manor Nursing and Residential Home and Water Mill House Care Home. St Pauls Care Centre holds an Outstanding rating from the Care Quality Commission, while Queensway House and Lime Tree Manor Nursing and Residential Home are rated Good. Alexandra Care Home and Water Mill House Care Home currently hold Requires Improvement. Each profile links through to the inspection report behind its grade.

How does a nursing home differ from a residential care home?

A residential care home provides personal care from care staff, covering help with washing, dressing, meals and prompting medication. A nursing home carries an additional registration for clinical nursing, with registered nurses on duty at all hours. That allows wound care, tube feeding, catheter management or palliative nursing to be managed in house rather than by community nurses calling in. All five homes listed for Hemel Hempstead are registered for nursing care.

What should be asked on a visit to a nursing home here?

Ask how many registered nurses are rostered on each shift, overnight included, and who takes clinical decisions when the manager is off site. Ask about turnover within the nursing team, because continuity matters more to a resident than the furnishings do. Where a home holds a lower grade, ask what has changed since the inspection and ask to see the action plan. Request the fee schedule in writing before anything is signed.

How is a care needs assessment arranged in Hemel Hempstead?

Ask Hertfordshire County Council for an adult social care needs assessment, which anyone can request, including a relative acting with the person's consent. There is no charge and the outcome does not depend on income or savings. An assessor will consider daily living, mobility, medication, continence and overnight needs before recommending a level of care. If the person is in hospital, the discharge team normally starts the process, though you can follow it up directly.

Can Hertfordshire County Council fund a nursing home placement?

Hertfordshire County Council can fund or part fund a placement where the needs assessment confirms nursing care is required and the financial assessment shows capital below the upper threshold. Anyone above that threshold meets the fees privately, although the needs assessment is still worth having on record. NHS funded nursing care contributes a weekly sum towards the nursing element for every nursing home resident, whatever their means. Where needs are mainly clinical, NHS continuing healthcare may fund the whole placement.

How early should a family start looking?

Begin as soon as nursing care looks likely rather than waiting for the point where a decision cannot be delayed. Six to eight weeks allows for repeat visits, a full read of the inspection reports and a settled funding position, which matters more than usual where grades vary this much. Hospital discharge rarely leaves that long, so a shortlist prepared in advance is worth having. If a room comes free sooner, many homes will hold it briefly against a deposit.

Nursing Homes in Hemel Hempstead

Hemel Hempstead has 5 CQC registered nursing homes. 2 are rated Good, 1 Outstanding, 2 Requires improvement. All 5 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Hemel Hempstead at a glance

What the local numbers say about care for older people in Hemel Hempstead, to help you judge the options below.

Hertfordshire County Council pays, residential care: £906 a week. Self-funders are typically asked £1,585 to £1,856, median £1,700
Care home beds filled across Hertfordshire: 86%. The 12 month average is 85%.
Care home beds per 1,000 people aged 75+: 70. Hertfordshire average is 79.
People aged 75 and over: 14,700. Rising to 17,300 by 2035, up 18%
Care homes, last 12 months: 1 opened, 0 closed
Who pays, across Hertfordshire (estimate): 34% council, 49% self. The rest is NHS funded or other.
Living with dementia, aged 65 and over (estimate): 2,000. Rising to 2,400 by 2035, up 23%
People aged 85 and over: 4,200. Rising to 5,900 by 2035, up 41%

Planned and recent building work within 5 miles

Land Between Bank Mill Lane And London Road Berkhamsted Hertfordshire. Application for a 75 bed care home. Submitted 23 December 2025. Decision pending. (3.5 miles away)
St Matthews Residential Care Home Chequer Lane Redbourn Hertfordshire Al3 7Qg. Application for a 2 bed care home. Submitted 21 May 2026. Decision pending. (3.7 miles away)

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 between the nursing homes covering Hemel Hempstead

The thing worth establishing first is what clinical need the move is actually meeting, because that is what separates these homes rather than the decor. Conditions requiring wound care, tube feeding, catheter management or palliative nursing are handled in house by registered nurses rather than by district nurses calling in. Ask how many qualified nurses are rostered on each shift and who carries clinical responsibility overnight.

Where the grades sit

St Pauls Care Centre holds an Outstanding rating, the highest the regulator awards and an uncommon one. Queensway House and Lime Tree Manor Nursing and Residential Home are each rated Good. Alexandra Care Home and Water Mill House Care Home currently hold Requires Improvement, which calls for the report to be read in full rather than for the home to be struck off a list automatically.

Questions a visit should answer

Ask about turnover among the nursing team, since instability often sits behind weaker inspection findings. Where a home holds a lower grade, ask what has changed since the inspection and ask to see any action plan. Request the fee schedule in writing, including whatever would move a resident to a higher band, and call in near a mealtime.

Arranging the assessment and funding the placement

A care needs assessment comes before any contract and establishes whether nursing rather than residential care is required. It is free, anyone may request it, and a relative can do so with the person's consent. Hertfordshire County Council is responsible for that assessment and for the financial assessment that follows it, and where a hospital stay is involved the discharge team usually begins the process.

How the means test is applied

Savings, income and, in a permanent placement, usually the value of a property are measured against the national capital thresholds. Capital above the upper threshold means fees are met privately. Below the lower threshold only income is counted, with a weekly personal allowance protected, and a deferred payment arrangement can postpone a sale.

The NHS contributions worth raising early

Neither NHS route depends on means. NHS funded nursing care pays a fixed weekly amount towards the nursing element for every nursing home resident, and NHS continuing healthcare can fund an entire placement where the need is primarily clinical. Both are assessed separately from the council means test, so ask about them at the outset rather than assuming the answer.

5 nursing homes in Hemel Hempstead

St Pauls Care Centre · Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire · CQC Outstanding
Queensway House · Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire · CQC Good
Alexandra Care Home · Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire · CQC Requires improvement
Lime Tree Manor Nursing and Residential Home · Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire · CQC Good
Water Mill House Care Home · Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire · CQC Requires improvement

What care costs in Hertfordshire, per week

Type of care	What the council pays	What self-funders are typically asked
Residential care Middle half of prices from 12 Hertfordshire homes. Median £1,700.	£906	£1,585 to £1,856
Nursing care East of England figure, because too few Hertfordshire homes publish this price. 17 homes. Median £1,935.	£1,036	£1,800 to £2,126
Residential dementia care Middle half of prices from 12 Hertfordshire homes. Median £1,766.	Not published separately	£1,678 to £1,874
Nursing dementia care East of England figure, because too few Hertfordshire homes publish this price. 10 homes. Median £1,940.	Not published separately	£1,870 to £2,100

Published prices are often starting prices, and come from homes that publish fees, so treat them as a guide. Ask the home for its own price. Powered by Orrery Intelligence.

Inspected most recently

Alexandra Care Home, 4 August 2022, Requires improvement
Lime Tree Manor Nursing and Residential Home, 16 March 2022, Good
Queensway House, 2 December 2021, Good

Longest since a report

Water Mill House Care Home, 20 June 2019, Requires improvement
St Pauls Care Centre, 8 May 2020, Outstanding
Queensway House, 2 December 2021, Good

Frequently asked questions about nursing homes in Hemel Hempstead

How many nursing homes are there in Hemel Hempstead?

Hemel Hempstead has 5 CQC registered nursing homes: 1 Outstanding, 2 Good, 2 Requires improvement. Counts come from the CQC register and are kept up to date as ratings change.

How much does a nursing home cost in Hemel Hempstead?

Hertfordshire County Council pays an average of £906 a week for residential care. Self-funders are typically asked £1,585 to £1,856 a week. Middle half of prices from 12 Hertfordshire homes. Median £1,700. Published prices are often starting prices, and come from homes that publish fees, so treat them as a guide. Ask the home for its own price.

Which nursing homes in Hemel Hempstead were inspected most recently?

Alexandra Care Home (4 August 2022), Lime Tree Manor Nursing and Residential Home (16 March 2022) and Queensway House (2 December 2021) have the most recent CQC reports.

Local care news in Hertfordshire

CQC register adds a new care home in North Hertfordshire: Monread Lodge (5 November 2026)

More local care news for Hertfordshire