Home care agency · Chelmsford
A1 Home Care
Illustrative photo, not of A1 Home Care- Address
- Units 16-19, Robjohns House, Navigation Road, Chelmsford, CM2 6ND
- Run by
- A1 Home Care Ltd
- Type of provider
- Independent (private company)
- Service
- Home care agency
- Dementia
- Registered with CQC to support people living with dementia
- Registered with CQC
- September 2011 (15 years)
- Registered manager
- Nicola Elizabeth Cook
- Company check
- Active, trading since 2007 (19 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 06137118)
- Last CQC check
- 13 Feb 2020
- Typical fees Estimated
- £30–£37 an hour for visiting care, weekdays; live-in £1,450–£1,770 a week. Our estimate from published local prices, not a quote. How we estimate
Registered to provide: Personal care
More in Chelmsford: Home care in Chelmsford (69) · Best rated home care agencies in Chelmsford · Dementia care at home in Chelmsford · Elderly care at home in Chelmsford · Physical disability care at home in Chelmsford · Live-in care in Chelmsford
See this service on the CQC website · CQC location ID 1-310523832
About this agency
Registered with CQC as a home care agency, A1 Home Care is based in Chelmsford, run by A1 Home Care Ltd. It supports adults of all ages, with registered specialisms in dementia, physical disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and sight or hearing loss.
Its latest CQC rating is Good overall (October 2026), with Caring rated Outstanding. It is one of 69 CQC-registered home care agencies that have an office within 7 miles of Chelmsford; 44 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
What the ratings tell you
Area by area, Caring is rated Outstanding; 4 other areas are Good.
Across Essex, 14 of 311 rated agencies are Outstanding for Caring (5%).
Under CQC's newer scoring, its strongest area is Caring at 90% and its lowest is Safe at 75%, averaging 79% overall.
Outstanding ratings for a single area are uncommon; the Caring section of the report gives examples of what inspectors saw.
How the scores break down
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, A1 Home Care scores 79%.
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 75%
- Assessing needs3 · Good
- Delivering evidence-based care and treatment3 · Good
- How staff, teams and services work together3 · Good
- Supporting people to live healthier lives3 · Good
- Monitoring and improving outcomes3 · Good
- Consent to care and treatment3 · Good
Caring 90%
- Kindness, compassion and dignity4 · Exceptional
- Treating people as individuals3 · Good
- Independence, choice and control3 · Good
- Responding to people’s immediate needs4 · Exceptional
- Workforce wellbeing and enablement4 · Exceptional
Responsive 75%
- Person-centred Care3 · Good
- Care provision, Integration and continuity3 · Good
- Providing Information3 · Good
- Listening to and involving people3 · Good
- Equity in access3 · Good
- Equity in experiences and outcomes3 · Good
- Planning for the future3 · Good
Well-led 79%
- Shared direction and culture3 · Good
- Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders4 · Exceptional
- Freedom to speak up3 · Good
- Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion3 · Good
- Governance, management and sustainability3 · Good
- Partnerships and communities3 · Good
- Learning, improvement and innovation3 · Good
4 means exceptional and 1 means significant shortfalls (3 good, 2 some shortfalls). CQC data, assessed 18 August 2026, published 20 October 2026, Open Government Licence. Where no score shows, that statement wasn't part of this assessment and its earlier result still counts.
Earlier inspections
- Apr 2016
- Jun 2017
- Feb 2020
- Oct 2026
- Today Rated in the last 12 months
Published CQC ratings in date order.
CQC documents
- CQC inspection report 13 February 2020
- CQC inspection report 9 June 2017
- CQC inspection report 21 April 2016
- Inspection report 14 March 2014
- Inspection report 6 November 2012
- Inspection report 6 June 2012
Map and area details
- Ward
- Trinity
- Council
- Essex County Council · paying for care
- Parliamentary constituency
- Chelmsford
- NHS integrated care board
- NHS Essex Integrated Care Board
- Type of area
- Urban (nearer to a major town or city)
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 50% least deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Home care in CM2 (23)
See the wider area · Directions · © OpenStreetMap contributors
Area details from ONS and NHS postcode data via postcodes.io (Open Government Licence). Care happens at home, not here: this is where the agency is run from.
CQC ratings, area by area
- Safe75% score271 of 312 in Essex
- Effective75% score290 of 311 in Essex
- Caring90% score14 of 311 in Essex
- Responsive75% score292 of 311 in Essex
- Well-led79% score234 of 312 in Essex
As rated by CQC, published 20 October 2026. Under each rating: how many agencies in Essex share it; for example, 14 of 311 agencies in Essex rated Outstanding for Caring.
Key points from CQC's visit
- A1 Home Care provides support to younger adults, older adults, people living with dementia, people with learning disabilities, people with physical disabilities and people living with sensory impairments.
- Regular audits were being carried out and were in place to help ensure people’s safety and wellbeing was maintained.
- Care plans and risk assessments were being assessed and routinely reviewed, and people were involved in their care planning.
- One relative told us, “I absolutely feel that [relative] is safe with the carers.
Inspected 10 December 2019; report published 13 February 2020. Taken from CQC's own findings (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
Choice nearby
Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other agencies are all within 3 miles, 13 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is Eden Brook Home Care Ltd, under 0.5 miles away.
Its rating is more recent than any of the 14 nearest rated agencies.
It sits in Trinity 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 Essex ICB.
Ownership and company checks
A1 Home Care is run by A1 Home Care Ltd (company 06137118), incorporated in 2007, 4 years before this service registered with CQC.
At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 1 active director and there is no insolvency history.
Its registered business activity is social work without accommodation for older and disabled people (which includes home care).
Costs to expect
We estimate visits from A1 Home Care at £30–£37 an hour (visiting care, weekdays), based on published prices in the region. As an example, an hour each morning and a 30-minute evening call comes to about £350 a week.
Regional live-in prices sit at roughly £1,450–£1,770 per week.
Essex Council can help with costs for people with savings under £23,250, starting with a free assessment.
Specialisms
From the CQC register; ask how each need is met in practice.
Track record
Registered in September 2011, it has 15 years on the CQC register.
CQC has published 4 overall ratings for it (2016–2026), starting at Good and staying Good every time.
The CQC website holds 6 reports for it, the latest from 13 February 2020.
Family reviews
There are no reviews of A1 Home Care yet. If you know the service, your experience could help someone else.
Reviews come from people who used the service or their families, verified by email. They sit alongside, not instead of, CQC ratings, and providers cannot take them down. How reviews work.
Compared with other agencies locally
- Rated Good. Across Essex, 90% of the 310 rated home care agencies are Good or Outstanding and 12 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (October 2026) is more recent than 99% of agency ratings in Essex.
- Registered with CQC in 2011: it has been registered longer than 94% of home care agencies in the area.
- It lists 7 specialisms with CQC; the typical agency in Essex lists 6.
Based on the CQC register for Essex as at Oct 2026.
Other agencies close by
Guides for families
Newer ratings near Chelmsford
- De Vere Care Partnership -ChelmsfordJul 2026 · under 0.5 miles
- Amazingly Care LtdOct 2025 · 0.7 miles
- Independent People HomecareDec 2024 · 0.7 miles
Questions about A1 Home Care
- Is A1 Home Care a registered provider?
- Yes: CQC lists it as a home care agency under location ID 1-310523832 and was rated Good overall in October 2026.
- Where is A1 Home Care based?
- Units 16-19, Robjohns House, Navigation Road, Chelmsford, CM2 6ND is the agency's office; check it serves your postcode.
- When did CQC last rate A1 Home Care?
- The latest rating is dated 20 October 2026; ask whether there have been changes since.
- Can A1 Home Care care for someone with dementia?
- Its registration includes dementia. Useful questions: how many staff hold dementia training, and how is a bad day handled?
- Who is the registered provider for A1 Home Care?
- CQC lists A1 Home Care Ltd as the provider responsible for A1 Home Care.
- What services is A1 Home Care registered for?
- A1 Home Care is registered for homecare agencies. Ask which of these it provides at the moment.
- How did A1 Home Care score on each CQC key question?
- By key question, CQC gave: Safe: Good; Effective: Good; Caring: Outstanding; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Good. Safe and Well-led tend to say most about day-to-day reliability.
- What are A1 Home Care's fees?
- No fee list from A1 Home Care has reached us. Visiting care typically costs around £32–£34 an hour (typical 2026 prices across England). Request a written quote and check what is charged on top.
Look further afield
In Essex
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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.