Essential Domiciliary Care Policies and Procedures: A Guide for Adult Care Providers
Updated: Oct 11
England • Information checked 10 September 2026.
A domiciliary care policy should help a worker make a clear decision during a visit. If the person cannot find the instruction, identify who to contact or explain what to record, the document needs more work.
This guide offers a practical starting point for adult care providers in England. The procedures your service needs depend on its regulated activities, the people it supports and its delivery arrangements. A purchased template needs to be adapted, approved and put into practice.
Start with the decisions made in people's homes
Map an ordinary visit from arrival to departure. Ask what the worker needs to know before entering, how they confirm the person's wishes, where the current care plan is available and what happens when something differs from the plan.
Then walk through an unusual situation: nobody answers the door, a worker cannot arrive, equipment is unavailable or a person reports a concern. Check that the procedure names the responsible role, the contact route, the immediate action and the record required. Include arrangements outside office hours.
Build a policy set around your service
Useful areas to review include safeguarding and escalation; consent and decision-making; person-centred care planning; medicines support within the service's agreed role; infection prevention; moving and handling; lone working; missed or late visits; complaints; recruitment; staff support; and confidential records. This is a review prompt, not an exhaustive statutory checklist.
Avoid copying a process that assumes resources you do not have. A home-care team needs instructions that work when staff are travelling between visits and a manager is not physically present. Confirm that local contact details and escalation arrangements are current.
Connect the procedure to the relevant requirements
The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 set requirements for regulated services in England. Regulation 17 covers effective governance, monitoring quality and risk, secure records and acting on feedback. Regulation 18 addresses appropriate staffing and worker support. Regulation 19 addresses recruitment and suitability. Use the full provisions and relevant guidance when checking your service.
Keep a short source register alongside your policies: document title, official source, date checked, affected procedure and the person responsible for reviewing it. When guidance changes, record the action required rather than simply changing the policy's review date.
Test the instructions with a realistic example
For an illustrative missed-visit exercise, ask a worker what they would do if they realised they could not reach a person at the planned time. Ask the coordinator how they would arrange support and communicate with the person. Ask the manager how the outcome would be reviewed.
Compare the answers with the written procedure. If the team gives different answers, identify whether the problem is unclear wording, unavailable information, training or how the service is organised. Record the change, its owner and a date to check whether it helped.
Make approval and review visible
Give each policy a version, owner, approval date and review point. Make the current version easy to find and prevent obsolete copies being mistaken for current instructions. Check understanding when a material change affects someone's work; a signature alone does not show how they will apply it.
Review sooner when incidents, feedback, changes in service delivery or new requirements identify a gap. A fixed calendar review can help organise the work, but should not postpone an improvement that is needed now.
Choose one procedure to improve this week
Start with a procedure your team finds difficult to use. Ask one worker and one coordinator to explain the next step in a realistic situation, then compare their answers. Keep the review small enough to finish and follow up.
In our community, discuss which instruction would make an ordinary care visit easier to manage. Describe the process without naming people, services or sharing confidential documents.
Connect your policy review to the CQC evidence-readiness guide and staff compliance checks. Browse more care, CQC and SEND guides for the next area you need to review.
Information reference and for more information see:
Put this into practice: explore the relevant collection below and check each listing for its audience, contents, format and current price.
Useful resources for this topic
If you would like a practical record to use alongside this article, the resources below explain their scope, format and price. Choose only the material that fits your circumstances; a completed template is a starting point for action and review.
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