Care home · Kensington and Chelsea
Margaret Thatcher Infirmary
Top rated 2026 · one of the services in London rated Outstanding by CQC
Illustrative photo, not of Margaret Thatcher Infirmary- Address
- Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 4SR
- Run by
- Royal Hospital Chelsea
- Service
- Nursing home, Home care agency, Diagnosis/screening
- Beds
- 68 (registered with CQC)
- Registered with CQC
- October 2011 (14 years)
- Registered manager
- Fergus Stephen Jonathon Keating Monika Balciunaite
- Last CQC check
- 10 Sep 2024
- Typical fees Estimated
- £1,670–£2,040 a week for nursing care. Estimate only, from published local rates. How we estimate
CQC regulated activities: Personal care · Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care · Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
CQC page for this service · CQC location ID 1-328817696
The service in brief
Margaret Thatcher Infirmary is a CQC-registered nursing home in Kensington and Chelsea, run by Royal Hospital Chelsea. It is registered to support older people.
At its most recent rating, CQC judged it Outstanding overall (September 2024). It is one of 11 CQC-registered care homes in and around Kensington and Chelsea; 8 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
How CQC rated each area
- Safe75% score9 of 10 in Kensington and Chelsea
- Effective96% score2 of 10 in Kensington and Chelsea
- Caring95% score2 of 10 in Kensington and Chelsea
- Responsive93% score2 of 10 in Kensington and Chelsea
- Well-led93% score2 of 10 in Kensington and Chelsea
Ratings from CQC's most recent report, published 10 September 2024. Under each rating: how many care homes in Kensington and Chelsea share it; for example, 2 of 10 care homes in Kensington and Chelsea rated Outstanding for Effective.
Costs to expect
We estimate Margaret Thatcher Infirmary at £1,670–£2,040 a week for nursing care, based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £87k–£106k.
Part of a nursing fee may be met by the NHS (NHS-funded nursing care), paid to the home rather than to you.
Kensington and Chelsea Council can help with costs for people with savings under £23,250, starting with a free assessment.
Scores behind the rating
Each area below is made up of several quality statements, each scored 1 to 4 by CQC; the percentage combines those scores for the area. Averaged across the five areas, Margaret Thatcher Infirmary scores 90%.
Safe 75%
- Learning culture3 · Good
- Safe systems, pathways and transitions3 · Good
- Safeguarding3 · Good
- Involving people to manage risks3 · Good
- Safe environments3 · Good
- Safe and effective staffing3 · Good
- Infection prevention and control3 · Good
- Medicines optimisation3 · Good
Effective 96%
- Assessing needs4 · Exceptional
- Delivering evidence-based care and treatment4 · Exceptional
- How staff, teams and services work together4 · Exceptional
- Supporting people to live healthier lives4 · Exceptional
- Monitoring and improving outcomes4 · Exceptional
- Consent to care and treatment3 · Good
Caring 95%
- Kindness, compassion and dignity4 · Exceptional
- Treating people as individuals4 · Exceptional
- Independence, choice and control3 · Good
- Responding to people’s immediate needs4 · Exceptional
- Workforce wellbeing and enablement4 · Exceptional
Responsive 93%
- Person-centred Care4 · Exceptional
- Care provision, Integration and continuity4 · Exceptional
- Providing Information4 · Exceptional
- Listening to and involving people3 · Good
- Equity in access4 · Exceptional
- Equity in experiences and outcomes3 · Good
- Planning for the future4 · Exceptional
Well-led 93%
- Shared direction and culture3 · Good
- Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders4 · Exceptional
- Freedom to speak up4 · Exceptional
- Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion4 · Exceptional
- Governance, management and sustainability3 · Good
- Partnerships and communities4 · Exceptional
- Learning, improvement and innovation4 · Exceptional
Scale: 1 (significant shortfalls) to 4 (exceptional). From CQC, assessed 20 June 2024, published 10 September 2024, Open Government Licence. Statements without a score were not reassessed and their earlier result stands.
Rating history
- Nov 2016
- Aug 2019
- Mar 2022
- Sep 2024
- Today Rating 2 years old
The location's rating record from CQC, from first to latest. The latest rating is an improvement on the one before.
Inspection reports to read
- CQC inspection report 22 March 2022
- CQC inspection report 8 August 2019
- CQC inspection report 29 November 2016
- Inspection report 29 June 2013
- Inspection report 22 June 2012
Area and map
- Ward
- Royal Hospital
- Parliamentary constituency
- Chelsea and Fulham
- NHS area (integrated care board)
- NHS West and North London Integrated Care Board
- ONS area type
- Urban: nearer to a major town or city
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 50% least deprived areas in England
View on OpenStreetMap · Plan a journey · OpenStreetMap (ODbL)
Around the building
- Bus stop 180 m (2 min walk) · 29 stops within 600 m
- Railway station London Victoria, 1.2 km (15 min walk)
- GP surgery Sloane Square Medical, 520 m (6 min walk)
- Pharmacy Boots, 500 m (6 min walk)
- Shop Sloane Food & Wine, 310 m (4 min walk)
- Park Burton Court, 200 m (2 min walk)
- Café Kat Coffee, 290 m (4 min walk)
- Place of worship 50 m (1 min walk)
- Library Chelsea Library, 780 m (10 min walk)
Distances are as the crow flies, from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); real walking routes will be longer and may include hills or busy roads.
Area details from ONS and NHS postcode data via postcodes.io (Open Government Licence).
Specialisms
Taken from its CQC registration.
Choice nearby
Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other care homes are all within 3 miles, 19 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is Loveday Belgravia, under 0.5 miles away.
13 of the 21 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Royal Hospital ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 50% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS West and North London ICB.
Within about a 10-minute walk there is a GP surgery (6 min), a pharmacy (6 min), a shop (4 min), a park (2 min), a café (4 min) and a bus stop (2 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.
What the ratings tell you
For Margaret Thatcher Infirmary, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led are rated Outstanding; 1 other area is Good.
Across Kensington and Chelsea, 2 of 10 rated care homes are Outstanding for Effective (20%), while 2 of 10 rated care homes are Outstanding for Caring (20%), while 2 of 10 rated care homes are Outstanding for Responsive (20%), while 2 of 10 rated care homes are Outstanding for Well-led (20%).
Under CQC's newer scoring, its strongest area is Effective at 96% and its lowest is Safe at 75%, averaging 90% overall.
Outstanding ratings for a single area are uncommon; the Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led section of the report gives examples of what inspectors saw.
Track record
CQC registration dates from October 2011, so the service has been operating for around 14 years under its current registration.
CQC has published 4 overall ratings for it (2016–2024), starting at Outstanding and staying Outstanding every time.
Reports on record: 5, with the most recent dated 22 March 2022.
Inspection findings in brief
- Margaret Thatcher Infirmary is registered to provide accommodation for up to 68 people who require nursing or personal care within the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the Chelsea Pensioners.
- It is also registered to provide personal care to people, through their domiciliary care service.
- People who use the service are known as 'pensioners'.
- People said the Margaret Thatcher Infirmary was a safe, secure place to live and they were treated with kindness and respect by staff.
Inspected 17 February 2022; report published 22 March 2022. In CQC's words, from its published findings (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
Ownership and company checks
Royal Hospital Chelsea runs 2 CQC-registered services; 2 of the 2 with a rating are Good or Outstanding (100%), against 86% for the same mix of services across England.
All 2 are in Kensington and Chelsea, so it is a local operator rather than a national chain.
Family reviews
No family has reviewed Margaret Thatcher Infirmary on The Care Panel so far.
We check every review against a working email address and publish positive and negative ones alike; providers can reply but cannot remove them. Reviews are separate from CQC ratings. How reviews work.
How Margaret Thatcher Infirmary compares
- Rated Outstanding. Across Kensington and Chelsea, 90% of the 10 rated care homes are Good or Outstanding and 2 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (September 2024) is more recent than 30% of care home ratings in Kensington and Chelsea.
- With 68 beds it is larger than 73% of care homes in Kensington and Chelsea, where the typical home has 46.
- Registered with CQC in 2011: it has been registered longer than 73% of care homes in the area.
- It lists 1 specialisms with CQC; the typical care home in Kensington and Chelsea lists 4.
Compared with every CQC-registered care home in Kensington and Chelsea. Source: CQC register, Oct 2026.
Nearest care homes
Guides for families
Similar care homes near Kensington and Chelsea, rated recently
- St Teresa's Care HomeJun 2025
- The Kensington Care HomeFeb 2026
- Support for Living Limited - 1 St Quintin AvenueFeb 2026
What families ask about Margaret Thatcher Infirmary
- How much does Margaret Thatcher Infirmary charge?
- Margaret Thatcher Infirmary's prices aren't on our site yet. Residential care home typically costs £1,456 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in London). Ask for written prices covering weekends, bank holidays and any travel or set-up charges.
- How did Margaret Thatcher Infirmary score on each CQC key question?
- The five CQC areas: Safe: Good; Effective: Outstanding; Caring: Outstanding; Responsive: Outstanding; Well-led: Outstanding. Read Safe and Well-led first; they say most about reliability.
- How big is Margaret Thatcher Infirmary?
- Margaret Thatcher Infirmary is registered for up to 68 residents. Ask about current vacancies and whether rooms have en-suite facilities.
- Who runs Margaret Thatcher Infirmary?
- The registered provider is Royal Hospital Chelsea, according to CQC.
- Is Margaret Thatcher Infirmary registered for dementia care?
- No dementia specialism is recorded with CQC. Ask the provider directly if this is likely to matter.
- When did CQC last rate Margaret Thatcher Infirmary?
- 10 September 2024 is when the current rating was published, 2 years ago. Check what has changed since, such as the manager or staffing.
- What kind of care can Margaret Thatcher Infirmary offer?
- Registration for Margaret Thatcher Infirmary covers: nursing homes, homecare agencies, diagnosis/screening. Check which of these it offers today.
- What is Margaret Thatcher Infirmary's address?
- It is at Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 4SR.
- Is Margaret Thatcher Infirmary regulated by the Care Quality Commission?
- Yes. Margaret Thatcher Infirmary is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a care home (location ID 1-328817696) and was rated Outstanding overall in September 2024.
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In Kensington and Chelsea
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Register data from the Care Quality Commission, refreshed Oct 2026, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Provider-written text is labelled as such. We are an independent directory, not a care provider.