Straight answers for registered managers.

A domiciliary care agency needs policies and procedures covering the key areas involved in providing safe, effective and well-led home care. These typically include safeguarding, medicines management, recruitment, complaints, consent, infection prevention and control, equality and human rights, governance, health and safety, data protection and other areas relevant to how the service operates.

The exact policies needed will depend on your regulated activities, the people you support and how your service operates.

Policy Hub provides a complete policy suite developed specifically for UK domiciliary care providers.

There is no single number of policies that every domiciliary care provider is required to have.

What matters is that your policies and procedures appropriately cover your service, regulated activities, workforce and the needs of the people you support.

Rather than focusing on reaching a particular number, providers should focus on maintaining a comprehensive and relevant policy suite.

There is no single review frequency that applies to every domiciliary care policy.

Policies should be reviewed at appropriate intervals and when relevant legislation, regulatory guidance, recognised good practice or the way your service operates changes.

Policy Hub takes a maintained approach, helping providers keep their policy suite current rather than relying on documents purchased once and left unchanged.

Not every change to CQC guidance will require every care policy to be rewritten. Providers should, however, consider relevant changes and determine whether their policies, procedures or working practices are affected.

Keeping policies current is an important part of effective governance. CQC's Regulation 17 guidance covers the systems and processes providers are expected to have in place to assess, monitor and improve their services.

You can read CQC's guidance on Regulation 17: Good governance.

Policy Hub monitors relevant developments so affected policies can be reviewed and updated when required.

Yes. Domiciliary care policies can be managed digitally, provided appropriate security, access controls and data protection measures are in place.

Digital policy management can make it easier to maintain version control, distribute updates and give staff access to the correct policies.

Where personal data is processed, organisations must put appropriate technical and organisational security measures in place. You can read the ICO's guidance on data security.

Policy Hub provides a digital portal for managing policies alongside a dedicated Carer App for staff access.

There is no general CQC rule stating that every carer must physically sign every policy.

Providers should have effective systems for making relevant policies available to staff and demonstrating that policies and procedures are understood and implemented within the service.

Policy Hub uses digital confirmation alongside knowledge checks. Carers must successfully complete the required knowledge check before they can confirm a policy.

For more information about CQC expectations around governance systems and records, see Regulation 17: Good governance.

A signature or acknowledgement can provide evidence that a policy has been presented to a member of staff, but it does not necessarily demonstrate understanding.

A stronger digital process can record who completed the policy, when it was completed, which version was reviewed and whether an associated knowledge check was successfully completed.

Policy Hub combines digital acknowledgement records with knowledge checks, helping managers maintain a clearer audit trail of staff engagement with policies.

CQC does not provide an approval or accreditation that makes a third-party policy provider or policy management platform “CQC approved”.

Providers should therefore be cautious about interpreting phrases such as “CQC approved policies” as an official CQC endorsement.

Policy Hub is not presented as CQC approved or accredited. Its policies are developed with the expertise of a former CQC Inspector and are designed to support domiciliary care providers with their policy management and compliance responsibilities.

For official information about CQC and regulation, visit the Care Quality Commission.

Policies and procedures are an important part of running a regulated care service, but having a policy library alone does not make a provider CQC compliant.

Compliance depends on how the service operates in practice, including leadership, staff practice, governance, records, risk management and the quality and safety of care provided.

For example, CQC's Regulation 17 requires providers to establish and operate effective systems and processes to support good governance. You can read CQC's guidance on Regulation 17.

Policy Hub is designed to support your compliance processes, not replace your responsibilities as a registered provider.

Policy Hub provides a complete suite of policies and procedures designed for domiciliary care providers.

The suite covers key areas involved in running and managing a home care service, including safeguarding, medicines management, care delivery, recruitment, governance, complaints, infection prevention and control, data protection, health and safety and other operational areas.

See the six policy categories for how the suite is organised.

Yes. Policy Hub policies are written specifically with UK domiciliary care and home care services in mind.

They are not residential care policies simply renamed for home care. They reflect the circumstances providers and carers encounter when delivering support in people's own homes, including areas such as lone working, home visits, medication, safeguarding and safe care delivery in the community.

Policy Hub has been developed by Care Esteem in partnership with The Governance Hub.

The policies are developed with the expertise of a former CQC Inspector, combining care-sector and regulatory experience with a digital platform designed to make domiciliary care policies easier to manage, maintain and evidence.

Yes. Your service details can be applied across your Policy Hub policies, helping create a policy suite that reflects your organisation rather than a collection of generic documents.

This is particularly important when documents are being used in connection with CQC registration. CQC advises applicants that supporting documents should be relevant and tailored to their business.

You can read CQC's guidance on preparing supporting documents.

Providers remain responsible for ensuring their policies are appropriate for their individual service and operating arrangements.

Yes. Policy Hub policies can be downloaded in Word and PDF formats, giving you access to copies outside the platform when required.

Your service details can also be applied across your policies.

If you independently edit a downloaded copy, appropriate version control should be maintained so staff do not inadvertently use an outdated or unofficial version instead of the current Policy Hub policy.

Policy Hub is a maintained policy suite, rather than a static set of policy templates.

Relevant regulatory and guidance developments are monitored. When a change affects a policy, that policy can be reviewed and updated accordingly.

This means policy maintenance is driven by relevant developments rather than simply changing a review date on a document.

When a relevant change affects a Policy Hub policy, the policy is reviewed and, where required, revised and issued as a new version.

Previous versions are retained within the version history, creating a clearer record of how the policy has changed over time.

This helps providers manage their current policies while maintaining an audit trail of previous versions.

Policy Hub provides version information and change details so you can identify what has been updated without manually comparing two lengthy documents.

This makes it easier for managers to understand relevant changes and determine what needs to be communicated to their team.

Yes. Policy Hub maintains policy version history so previous versions can be identified and a clearer audit trail of changes can be maintained.

Version control can be particularly useful when identifying which policy was in place at a particular time and which version members of staff have completed.

A one-off set of policy templates gives you documents to start with, but responsibility for monitoring relevant changes, reviewing the documents, updating them and distributing new versions remains with your organisation.

Policy Hub combines the policy suite with ongoing maintenance, version control, staff access, acknowledgements, knowledge checks and expert webinars.

The value is not simply having the documents. It is having a system designed to help keep your domiciliary care policies current, accessible and evidenced over time.

Carers access relevant policies through the dedicated Policy Hub Carer App.

This gives staff a convenient digital way to access policies without relying on printed folders, email attachments or shared documents.

Managers can distribute relevant policies and maintain a digital record of staff completion.

Policy Hub records staff policy activity digitally.

Managers can see who has completed a policy, which version they completed and whether the associated knowledge check was successfully completed.

This provides a clearer audit trail than relying solely on paper signatures or manually maintained spreadsheets.

A policy knowledge check is a short assessment designed to check understanding of key information within a policy.

Rather than simply asking a carer to tick a box confirming that they have read a document, Policy Hub requires them to successfully complete the associated knowledge check before they can confirm the policy.

If a carer answers incorrectly, they cannot confirm the policy until the knowledge check has been completed correctly.

This means policy confirmation is linked to successful completion of the knowledge check rather than simply opening the document and clicking a confirmation button.

A policy acknowledgement record provides evidence that a particular member of staff has confirmed a particular policy.

A digital acknowledgement can record the staff member, policy, version and date of completion.

This becomes particularly useful when policies change because managers can identify which version each member of staff has completed.

Yes. Policy Hub records relevant policy activity so managers have a clearer record of staff engagement.

This can include which policy was completed, the policy version, who completed it and associated acknowledgement and knowledge check information.

Policy Hub costs £99 + VAT per month, or £990 + VAT for the year paid at once, which gives you two months free.

The subscription includes the complete domiciliary care policy suite, ongoing policy updates, personalisation, Carer App access, knowledge checks, acknowledgement records, version history, unlimited team members, Word and PDF downloads and quarterly expert webinars.

There is no need to purchase individual policy updates separately.

Your Policy Hub subscription includes the complete domiciliary care policy suite, ongoing updates, policy personalisation, Carer App access, knowledge checks, acknowledgement records, full version history, Word and PDF downloads, unlimited team members, quarterly expert webinars and ongoing support.

Policy Hub uses one straightforward subscription rather than separating essential functionality across multiple pricing tiers.

Yes. Ongoing policy updates are included in your Policy Hub subscription.

There is no separate charge each time a Policy Hub policy is updated.

This is one of the key differences between a maintained policy subscription and purchasing a one-off set of static policy documents.

No. There is no setup fee. The £99 + VAT monthly subscription gives you access to the complete Policy Hub.

Yes. Policy Hub is a 12-month contract. Pay £99 + VAT a month for 12 months, or £990 + VAT for the year at once and get two months free.

Policies do not stop requiring attention once they have been written.

Relevant guidance, legislation and recognised good practice can change, and providers need to keep their policy suite current and accessible to staff.

Your Policy Hub subscription therefore covers much more than the original documents. It includes ongoing policy maintenance, version control, Carer App access, knowledge checks, acknowledgement records and quarterly expert webinars.

You are subscribing to an actively maintained policy management service, not simply buying a folder of templates.

Policy Hub is a digital domiciliary care policy management platform developed for UK home care providers.

It combines a complete policy suite with ongoing updates, version control, staff access through a dedicated Carer App, knowledge checks, acknowledgement records and quarterly expert webinars.

It is designed to make managing domiciliary care policies and procedures simpler, more consistent and easier to evidence.

Policy Hub has been developed by Care Esteem in partnership with The Governance Hub.

The partnership combines Care Esteem's experience in digital home care management with The Governance Hub's policy and compliance expertise.

The policies are developed with the expertise of a former CQC Inspector.

No. You do not need to use Care Esteem's home care management software to subscribe to Policy Hub.

Policy Hub is available as a separate solution for domiciliary care providers.

If you already use Care Esteem, speak to your Care Esteem contact about adding Policy Hub to your service.

No. They are separate solutions.

Policy Hub focuses on domiciliary care policies and procedures, ongoing policy maintenance, staff access, knowledge checks and policy acknowledgement records.

Care Esteem provides home care management software for domiciliary care providers, supporting areas such as care planning, rostering, eMAR, audits, billing and payroll.

Providers can use Policy Hub independently of Care Esteem's care management software.

Yes. Policy Hub is designed for both new and established domiciliary care providers.

New providers may use Policy Hub to establish a comprehensive policy suite, while established providers may use it to simplify ongoing policy maintenance, version control, staff access and evidence of policy understanding.

Please note: Policy Hub does not include the specific policies or supporting documents required as part of a new provider's CQC registration application. For new provider applications in England, CQC specifies a number of policies and supporting documents that applicants must submit. You can view the current current CQC supporting document requirements for new providers for new providers andCQC's guidance on preparing supporting documents for further information.

Providers remain responsible for ensuring their policies and operating practices are appropriate to their individual service and regulatory requirements.

Policy Hub's current policy suite is designed around domiciliary care providers operating in England and the CQC regulatory framework.

Care regulation differs across the UK. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different regulators and regulatory frameworks, so providers outside England should not assume that policies developed specifically for CQC-regulated services meet their local requirements.

Getting started is simple.

Contact the Care Esteem team to discuss Policy Hub, ask any questions and find out how it can work for your domiciliary care service.

Email [email protected] or book a walkthrough with the Care Esteem team.