How the carehome.co.uk review score works

The carehome.co.uk review score adds two things over a rolling 24 months: your average rating and your number of positive reviews.

Because the window keeps moving, old reviews drop out, which is why consistency matters as much as quality. The score is one part of the picture in our guide to care home reviews.

Managers often see this number move and are not sure why. Once you understand the sums, it feels manageable.

The two parts of your score

The score is out of 10. Up to five points come from your average rating, and up to five from your number of positive reviews. Only reviews published in the last 24 months count.

Part one: your average rating

Each review has 12 ratings: overall experience, care and support, treated with dignity, staff, management, rooms, facilities, cleanliness, food and drink, activities, safety and security, and value for money.

Excellent scores 5 points, good 4, satisfactory 3, poor 2 and very poor 1. Your average is the total points divided by the number of completed ratings. Blank and “don’t know” answers are left out.

Part two: your positive reviews

A positive review is one that rates overall experience as good or excellent. Twenty positive reviews in a rolling 24 months earn four points, whatever the size of your home. Points build as reviews are published.

The fifth point comes from reaching 20% of your registered beds, with partial credit. A 25-bed home needs 5, a 40-bed home 8, a 50-bed home 10 and a 100-bed home 20.

So 7 positive reviews at a 50-bed home earn 0.7 of that point. Once you reach the target you keep the full five points, and later reviews only affect your average.

Check the bed count on your profile, because it sets your target and must match your regulator’s website.

A worked example

Say a 50-bed home has 22 positive reviews in the last 24 months and an average rating of 4.6. It has reached both targets, so it earns five points plus 4.6, which makes 9.6.

Google works differently. It shows an average star rating and publishes no two-year cut-off like this.

So you have two things to work on. You can earn more positive reviews, and you can lift your average. Both are time-limited, which is the part most homes miss.

Why a review “expires” from your score

Because the window rolls forward, a glowing review from three years ago is no longer doing any work.

It stops a home coasting on past glory. Only the latest review from each person counts too, so a new review from the same person replaces their earlier one.

A home with no review in the last 24 months gets no score.

It is also why a burst of reviews followed by silence causes your score to sag months later, exactly when you have forgotten why.

Why recent and mixed beats old and perfect

A run of ten flawless five stars left long ago counts for nothing once it leaves the window. A smaller set of recent reviews will score better, and a reply to each shows you listen.

Recent reviews show the home as it is today.

A realistic spread also reads as more honest than perfection. Chasing a spotless 10 is the wrong goal, and carehome.co.uk’s own webinar says as much.

A realistic plan to improve your score

• Months 1 to 3: build the habit. Invite every family at set points. One or two new reviews a month is a good pace. Reply to every one.
• Months 4 to 6: address any weak category ratings, food, activities, communication, and keep inviting every family as you improve.
• Months 7 to 12: keep it going. By now recent reviews are on your side and the score holds up.

The homes with the best scores are almost never the ones who tried hardest for a week. They are the ones who never stopped.