Do this before paying a deposit. Start with the legal home name and full address on the proposed admission agreement. A group can operate several homes, and a familiar trading name can make it easy to read the wrong record.
Check four things in order
- Open SWD’s licensing-related information page and locate the licence for the exact premises. Match its name and address, including floor or unit; check the validity and any stated conditions.
- Open warnings in the recent 12 months. Read the warning item and date, not only whether the home’s name appears.
- Open convictions in the recent 24 months. A conviction record and an administrative warning are different records and should not be described interchangeably.
- Check the linked cancellation/refusal-to-renew records too. Save the official page or document with the date you checked it.
What an empty result does and does not mean
It means no matching item was found in the published material you checked, within its stated period. It does not establish that there have never been complaints, that every inspection was satisfactory or that an event outside that period did not occur. Also check spelling, previous names and whether the premises changed.
If there is a record, ask for the correction
| Record concerns | Ask the manager |
|---|---|
| Staffing or supervision | What changed in the duty roster, how is cover maintained during absence, and can the current arrangement be explained for nights and weekends? |
| Personal care or privacy | What procedure changed, how were staff trained, and how is compliance checked now? |
| Medication, meals or health-related care | Who reviewed the process and what records would show that the individual care instructions are followed? |
Ask for a written response to material issues and compare it with what you observe during the visit. A general assurance that “everything is fixed” does not answer the specific published finding. Equally, describe an old record with its date and scope; do not turn it into an unsupported claim about every current resident’s care.
After admission
Keep your own dated notes of concerns and the home’s responses. Raise unresolved service or licensing issues through the official SWD contact route shown with the records. If someone appears in immediate danger, seek emergency help rather than waiting for a website record to be updated.