Personal care
Personal care is the regulated activity of providing physical assistance with, or prompting and supervising, things like washing, dressing, eating and using the toilet, where the person cannot do them unaided.
Personal care in practice
It is the activity that brings most domiciliary agencies and supported living services into CQC registration, and it is the one most often misjudged.
Prompting and supervising count, not just hands-on help. A service that never physically touches anyone can still be providing personal care if staff supervise someone through washing or dressing because they could not manage it alone.
Companionship, housework, shopping and social support are not personal care on their own. A service that genuinely provides only those does not need to register, but the moment it starts helping someone wash or take medication the position changes, and it changes on the day the task starts rather than when the paperwork catches up.
Related terms
Related definitions
Statement of Purpose
A Statement of Purpose is the document a CQC-registered provider must keep that sets out its aims and objectives, the regulated activities it provides, the service user groups it serves, and the addresses it operates from.
Read definitionRegulated activity
A regulated activity is an activity listed in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 that may not lawfully be carried on in England without registering with CQC.
Read definitionDomiciliary care
Domiciliary care is care delivered to people in their own homes by a registered provider, and where it includes personal care it requires CQC registration under the regulated activity of personal care.
Read definitionRegistering with CQC or Ofsted?
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