Our review publishing process

Reviews are at the heart of everything that we do as they are the best way to help care seekers create an understanding of what a care home is like and choose the right option for their loved one.

The reviews provide residents/service users or their family/friends with an opportunity to share their experience of the care provider whether giving praise or constructive criticism, and the care providers are able to share this feedback with their teams.

Our rigorous publishing process ensures that the reviews on carehome.co.uk are genuine and are compliant with our review policy.

This page explains the journey of reviews on carehome.co.uk, outlining each stage of our reviews process.

1. A review is written and submitted

 The first step starts when a resident/service user or their family /friend writes and submits a review either through our website or by using a Review Card. This can be on their own initiative or by invitation from a care home.

We receive approximately 40% of Reviews through website submission and 60% of Reviews through Review Cards (only available to Enhanced / Premium / Platinum Service subscribers).

We require the name and telephone/email of the reviewer and the option to share these with the care provider, so that we can authenticate reviews. 

Who can submit a review?

Reviews of care providers can only be submitted by residents/service users or their family/friends.

Reviews are not accepted from:

• Members of staff and ex-members of staff (includes staff working within the wider organisation)
• Anyone with a professional connection to the care provider (e.g. entertainer/hairdresser/doctor/nurse/therapist etc.)
• Ad-hoc visitors (e.g. attending a garden fete, Mayor, MP)
• Potential residents and their family/friends
• Students/Work Experience

For Reviews submitted on Review Cards, assistance can be given to residents/service users by their family/friends but NOT by staff members. The family/friends must provide their name, connection and contact details.

Residents/service users must sign the review and be willing and able to give all of the information for the review. The connection is published next to the review which clearly states assistance has been given.

People under 16 should get permission from a parent or guardian before posting on our site.

2. Pre-screening of review

In stage two, the review is received and entered onto the system by our Review Team. The team checks the review to ensure that it adheres to our Review Policy.

If the review is incomplete it will not be published, however, subject to being able to contact the reviewer, we may be able to obtain the missing information.

In this instance, we will call the reviewer if we have their phone number and/or an email is sent to notify the reviewer who can then update and resubmit the review.

If the review appears to comply with our Review Policy, the Review Team contacts the person for authentication.

3. Review authentication

To ensure that the review is genuine and the person who submitted the review has a valid connection to the home, the reviews go through various authentication checks.

We have a number of automated data checks to authenticate reviews, these include:

• Is the phone number the same as the Care provider’s telephone number?
• Is the Manager’s name mentioned in the review comment?
• Has the reviewer done a previous review?
• Has the reviewer’s email address been used before?
• Is the review comment the same as another one?
• Is the IP address the same for any other reviews?

For a number of reviews, the Review Team telephones/emails the reviewer. If they are a friend/relative they may ask if they can provide the name of the person in the home for confirmation. Residents/service users who submit a review without assistance must be willing and able to speak with us to confirm the authenticity of their review.

If the review is flagged and fails our authentication checks, an email is sent to the contacts of the care provider stating that the review will not be published.

If the review is not flagged by our authentication checks, then the review will move to pending publication.

4. Pending publication

When a Review moves into Pending Publication, an email is sent to the contacts of the care provider with a link to the review.

The care provider is informed that the review will automatically be published after 7 days unless they select one of the following options:

1. Publish Immediately. The review will be published and an email sent to the reviewer (if an email address present) and to the contacts of the care provider saying the review is live.
2. Publish adding a reply to the review. The Review Team verifies the reply to ensure it complies with  the terms of the Review Policy and the review is then published with the reply. An email is sent to the reviewer (if an email address present) and to the contacts of the care provider saying the review and reply is now live. 

Review replies

The Review Team verifies all review replies before publication to check they comply with the Content Standards.

For the avoidance of doubt, review replies must not reveal specific personal information about the reviewer, the resident/service user or a third party (e.g. the person’s diagnosis or treatment) as this may breach data protection legislation (unfair processing of personal or sensitive personal data) and would also be likely to breach the care provider's duty of confidentiality to the reviewer or resident/service user.

Review replies must be submitted within 6 months of the submission date of the relevant review. We try to verify all review replies within 3 working days, but we cannot guarantee this.

5. Publication of review

If no action is taken by the care provider, the review will be published after 7 days.

If the care provider select ‘Publish Immediately’, the review is published immediately and the reviewer (if an email address is present) as well as the provider is notified.

If the care provider wishes to add a reply to the review, the Review Team verifies the reply to ensure it complies with the terms of our Review Policy and the review is then published with the reply. We aim to verify review replies within 3 working days.