Home care agency · Bedford
FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK
Typical fee here £30–£37 an hour Estimate
Free · 2 minutes · No obligation · 34,334 registered providers compared
Illustrative photo, not of FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK- Address
- 3rd Floor, Howard House 40-64, St. Johns Street, Bedford, MK42 0DJ
- Run by
- Firstcare (GB) Ltd (2 services)
- Type of provider
- Independent (private company)
- Service
- Home care agency, Supported living
- Dementia
- Not listed as a specialism with CQC; ask the provider
- Registered with CQC
- September 2011 (15 years)
- Registered manager
- Joanna Awuku-Asabre
- Company check
- Active, trading since 2006 (20 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 05703429)
- Last CQC check
- 10 Jan 2020
- Typical fees Estimated
- £30–£37 an hour for visiting care, weekdays; live-in £1,450–£1,770 a week. An estimate based on local published fees. Ask for a written quote. How we estimate
CQC regulated activities: Personal care
More in Bedford: Home care in Bedford (80) · Best rated home care agencies in Bedford · Live-in care in Bedford · 24-hour care in Bedford
Open CQC's full report · CQC location ID 1-291683646
Introducing FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK
FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK is a CQC-registered home care agency that also provides supported living in Bedford, run by Firstcare (GB) Ltd.
At its most recent rating, CQC judged it Good overall (January 2020). It is one of 80 CQC-registered home care agencies that have an office within 7 miles of Bedford; 36 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
How long it has been running
FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK has been registered with CQC since September 2011, about 15 years.
CQC has published 3 overall ratings for it (2015–2020), starting at Good and staying Good every time.
6 years have passed since the last overall rating. Services judged lower-risk wait longer for a visit, but teams change, so check what is different today.
The CQC website holds 6 reports for it, the latest from 10 January 2020.
What it may cost
We estimate visits from FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK 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.
If savings are under the upper limit (£23,250 in England), Bedford Council may pay part of the cost after a free care needs assessment.
Who runs it
FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK is run by Firstcare (gb) Ltd (company 05703429), incorporated in 2006, 5 years before this service registered with CQC.
At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 2 active directors and there is no insolvency history.
Its registered business activity is other residential care.
Firstcare (GB) Ltd runs 2 CQC-registered services across 2 council areas; 2 of the 2 with a rating are Good or Outstanding (100%), against 88% for the same mix of services across England.
The local picture
Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other agencies are all within 3 miles, 12 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is Hands on Healthcare Solutions, under 0.5 miles away.
13 of the 15 nearest rated agencies have a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Kingsbrook ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 40% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Central East ICB.
Past CQC ratings
- Apr 2015
- Apr 2017
- Jan 2020
- Today Rating 6 years old
Published CQC ratings in date order.
Published inspection reports
- CQC inspection report 10 January 2020
- CQC inspection report 20 April 2017
- CQC inspection report 30 April 2015
- Inspection report 14 December 2013
- Inspection report 13 June 2012
- Inspection report 31 January 2012
Map and area details
- Ward
- Kingsbrook
- Council
- Bedford Borough Council · paying for care
- Parliamentary constituency
- Bedford
- NHS planning area
- NHS Central East Integrated Care Board
- ONS area type
- Urban · nearer to a major town or city
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 40% most deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Home care in MK42 (23)
View on OpenStreetMap · Route planner · Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors
Ward, NHS area and deprivation from ONS and NHS postcode data (postcodes.io, Open Government Licence). Care happens at home, not here: this is where the agency is run from.
Who it can help
Specialisms as registered with CQC.
How CQC rated each area
- Safe36 of 43 in Bedford
- Effective39 of 43 in Bedford
- Caring35 of 43 in Bedford
- Responsive37 of 43 in Bedford
- Well-led27 of 43 in Bedford
From CQC's latest report, published 10 January 2020. Under each rating: how many agencies in Bedford share it.
Strengths and weak spots in the ratings
CQC rated every one of the five key questions Good here, so there is no weak spot in the published ratings.
For leadership (Well-led), it shares its Good rating with 26 of the 42 other agencies in Bedford that CQC has rated.
What CQC's inspectors reported
- Staff had received training to recognise and report signs of abuse.
- Risks to people's health and safety were assessed and staff knew how to support people to help keep them safe.
- Safe recruitment processes were in place and staff received a thorough induction to familiarise themselves with the expectations of their role and the values of the service.
- They received good quality training and supervision to help them to acquire the skills and knowledge to fulfil their role and responsibilities.
Inspected 22 November 2019; report published 10 January 2020; supporting 75 people at the time. Taken from CQC's own findings (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
Family reviews
No family has reviewed FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK on The Care Panel so far.
Reviews are from families and clients and are separate from CQC ratings. Each one is checked against a real email address; we publish good and bad reviews and providers cannot edit or remove them. How reviews work.
Where FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK stands locally
- Rated Good. Across Bedford, 83% of the 42 rated home care agencies are Good or Outstanding and 3 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (January 2020) is more recent than 10% of agency ratings in Bedford.
- Registered with CQC in 2011, it is one of the longest-registered home care agencies in the area.
- It lists 1 specialisms with CQC; the typical agency in Bedford lists 6.
All figures compare it with other home care agencies in Bedford; CQC register, Oct 2026.
Closest alternatives
Guides for families
Similar home care agencies near Bedford, rated recently
- Creative Support - Bedford ServicesSep 2025 · 1.5 miles
- Home Instead BedfordDec 2024 · 4.0 miles
- Dial4Care Recruitment LtdApr 2025 · under 0.5 miles
Quick answers about FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK
- Who is the registered provider for FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK?
- The registered provider is Firstcare (GB) Ltd, according to CQC.
- What type of care does FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK provide?
- FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK is registered with CQC for: homecare agencies, supported living. Ask the provider which needs it can meet now and as needs change.
- How is FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK rated for safety and leadership?
- CQC rates five key questions. For FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK: Safe: Good; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Good. Safe and Well-led are the two to read first in the report.
- What are FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK's fees?
- No fee list from FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK 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.
- Is FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK registered with CQC?
- Yes: CQC lists it as a home care agency under location ID 1-291683646 and was rated Good overall in January 2020.
- Where is FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK?
- The agency works from 3rd Floor, Howard House 40-64, St. Johns Street, Bedford, MK42 0DJ; ask which postcodes its carers cover.
- When did CQC last rate FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK?
- The rating now shown was published on 10 January 2020, 6 years ago. Ask what has changed since then, for example in management or staffing.
- Is FirstCare-Bedfordshire & MK registered for dementia care?
- Its CQC registration does not list dementia. If that is a need now or later, check with the provider before deciding.
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CQC register information as at Oct 2026, reused under Open Government Licence v3.0. Where the provider has written text, we say so. We list and compare services; we do not run any.