I own a residential/dementia care home and would like to offer day care. However, do I have to change my current registration? What are the requirements in order for me to offer day care? E.g. can day care residents mingle with EMI residents who live within the care home?

Answered by Abi Spence

Day care often comes up in relation to CQC Registration. CQC has a duty to register, inspect and monitor services who carry on regulated activities. Information relating to regulated activities can be found in the Scope of Registration published by CQC. The regulated activity usually associated with day care is ‘Personal Care’ but this as page 19 of the scope of registration describes ‘… consists of the provision of personal care for people who are unable to provide it for themselves, because of old age, illness or disability, and which is provided to them in the place where those people are living at the time when the care is provided.’

So as such, day care falls out of the scope of registration.  You may want to update your Statement of Purpose to reflect that you have day care on site.

You haven’t described physically where the day centre would be. Many providers would have this on the grounds but in a separate building. What is vital is your residents have the privacy and dignity of their own home. Only your residents will be able to consent to who they visit with, or decisions made which are made in their best interest following the Mental Capacity Act code of practice.

If you are setting up a day care centre, you will want to make sure that you have completed risk assessments and show how you have mitigated those risks which cover the impact on your residential service. CQC will want to know that your registered service is not impacted negatively, and you are providing quality, safe care.