I would like to set up a day centre in the village where I live for older people. I would be having this as a small business and around 20 people / one member of staff. Would I need inspection for this service? – Helen

Answered by Sheila Scott

Dear Helen,

What a wonderful idea to have a day centre in your village.

Day Centres are not subject to Registration or Inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

You can see a useful paper on the scope of registration on the CQC website at

http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20150326_100001_scope_registration_march_2015_updated.pdf

There will be other regulatory processes you will need to consider for instance if you are providing meals then you will need to consider Food Hygiene training for the person preparing the meals. You will also need to think about the appropriate insurance.

I would suggest that you also contact your local authority social services department because they may want to contract with you for the provision of day care for some older people.

There will be other day care centres in other towns or villages and if you haven’t already it is worth having a meeting with them to see if they can give you any advice or tips.

Best wishes and good luck.

Sheila