Choosing a care home

Choosing a care home is all about finding the right care in the right place. There are more than 300 Bupa care homes in the UK and we’re here to help you find the right one for you by focusing on the things that are most important to you.

The right care

Our homes offer many types of care, including:

Nursing
Residential
Dementia
Convalescence
Post-operative
Young physically disabled
Parkinson’s disease
Huntington’s disease
End of life (palliative)

Most homes provide several types of care. This makes them ideal for people with changing or complex needs or for couples with different care requirements.

Our section ‘Types of care’ offers guidance covering all these types of care.

Read more

It’s really important that you understand your own specific needs before choosing a care home. You’ll find lots of help and advice in our article ‘Getting the right kind of care for you’.

Read more

The right place

Staff, location, facilities, services and atmosphere are what make each of our care homes unique. The best way to find out which home has the right combination for you is by looking around, talking to staff and residents and asking lots of questions.

You should visit a number of care homes before making your final choice. We’ve put together a guide and a checklist to help you arrange visits and assess and compare care homes.

Read about viewing a care home

Download checklist (pdf)

Funding

Bupa care homes offer the comfort and care you need whatever your budget, and you don’t have to have Bupa health insurance to live in a Bupa care home. Over 70 per cent of our residents get contributions towards their care from Local Authorities or Primary Care Trusts.

Fees vary between types of home and according to your own care needs. Before choosing a care home, you’ll need to understand the funding options available and what assistance you are eligible for.

Our section ‘Paying for a Bupa care home’ is full of information that will help you understand how much care homes cost, how funding care works and how it applies to you. There are lots of things to think about, but don’t worry, we’re here to help.

Read more on paying for care

Your right to choose

Buying care is like buying anything else – you’ll want to shop around, comparing prices and services before you choose.

Whatever your financial position, even if your Local Authority is helping with funding, the right to choose is still yours. You can choose any home that accepts residents funded by the Local Authority – and that includes Bupa care homes.

If you choose a care home that costs more than an Authority would normally pay to cover your needs, you will need to pay the difference. If you’re paying the fees yourself - whether from capital, income or an insurance policy - you can choose any home in your price range.

Read about getting financial help

Read more about paying for care

Finding a care home

Our online tool will help you find the right care in the right place. You can search for a care home by postcode, town and type of care. You can also search for a particular care home by name.

You’ll find details of all our care homes, including:

Types of care provided
Facilities
Pictures of what’s on offer
Latest star ratings for homes that have been inspected

You can also download a brochure for your chosen home.

Find a care home

Help and guidance

We’re experts and we’re here to help you.

For help and guidance on aged care advice, call our contact centre at any time (we’re here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) on 0800 011 44 04 or fill in our contact form.

Contact us – contact form

More useful links

Care Quality Commission website

Care Commission for Scotland website

Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales