Home care agency · Gainsborough
Sterling Care Services
Illustrative photo, not of Sterling Care Services- Address
- Mercury House, Willoughton Drive, Gainsborough, DN21 1DY
- Run by
- L&J James Investments 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 2021 (5 years)
- Registered manager
- Kelly Marie Grange-Smith
- Company check
- Active, trading since 2020 (6 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 12966896)
- Last CQC check
- 11 May 2026
- 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
Regulated activities on its registration: Personal care
More in Gainsborough: Home care in Gainsborough (9) · Dementia care at home in Gainsborough · Physical disability care at home in Gainsborough
CQC page for this service · CQC location ID 1-11686477656
The service in brief
Registered with CQC as a home care agency, Sterling Care Services is based in Gainsborough, run by L&J James Investments Ltd. Its registered specialisms include dementia and physical disabilities.
Its latest CQC rating is Good overall (May 2026). It is one of 9 CQC-registered home care agencies that have an office within 7 miles of Gainsborough; 4 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
Budgeting for this agency
We estimate visits from Sterling Care Services 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.
Live-in arrangements here usually cost £1,450–£1,770 weekly.
With savings below £23,250, Lincolnshire Council may contribute once it has carried out a free needs assessment.
Needs it is registered to meet
From the CQC register; ask how each need is met in practice.
Ratings for safety, care and leadership
- Safe75% score72 of 84 in Lincolnshire
- Effective75% score78 of 84 in Lincolnshire
- Caring75% score71 of 84 in Lincolnshire
- Responsive75% score76 of 84 in Lincolnshire
- Well-led75% score64 of 84 in Lincolnshire
From CQC's latest report, published 11 May 2026. Under each rating: how many agencies in Lincolnshire share it.
Who runs it
Sterling Care Services is run by L&j James Investments Ltd (company 12966896), incorporated in 2020.
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).
How it fits locally
There are 5 other agencies within 3 miles, 1 of them rated Good or Outstanding; the nearest is Trent Nursing, under 0.5 miles away.
It sits in Gainsborough East ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Lincolnshire ICB.
History with CQC
Registered in September 2021, it has 5 years on the CQC register.
CQC has rated it once overall, as Good, in May 2026.
Key points from CQC's visit
- This assessment was carried out as part of our regular monitoring of service.
- People received safe, person‑centred care from a reliable and well‑organised service.
- Risks were assessed and monitored, and staff responded quickly when people’s health changed.
- People and relatives spoke positively about communication, consistency of staff and the quality of support provided.
In CQC's words, from its published findings (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
Detailed scores
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, Sterling Care Services scores 75%.
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 75%
- Kindness, compassion and dignity3 · Good
- Treating people as individuals3 · Good
- Independence, choice and control3 · Good
- Responding to people’s immediate needs3 · Good
- Workforce wellbeing and enablement3 · Good
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 75%
- Shared direction and culture3 · Good
- Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders3 · Good
- 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
Scores: 4 exceptional, 3 good, 2 some shortfalls, 1 significant shortfalls. From CQC's assessment, assessed 31 December 2025, published 11 May 2026 (Open Government Licence). A statement with no score was not looked at in this assessment; its earlier result still counts.
Map and area details
- Ward
- Gainsborough East
- Parliamentary constituency
- Gainsborough
- NHS area (integrated care board)
- NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board
- Setting
- Urban (nearer to a major town or city)
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 10% most deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Home care in DN21 (8)
Larger map · How to get there · Base map © OpenStreetMap
Local area facts: ONS and NHS geography via postcodes.io, Open Government Licence. This is the agency's office; care is delivered in people's own homes around it.
Strengths and weak spots in the ratings
Sterling Care Services has an even profile: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led are each rated Good.
For leadership (Well-led), it shares its Good rating with 63 of the 83 other agencies in Lincolnshire that CQC has rated.
Under CQC's newer scoring, its strongest area is Caring at 75% and its lowest is Well-led at 75%, averaging 75% overall.
Family reviews
No reviews yet. If you or a relative have used care from this agency, your review helps other families choose.
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.
Compared with other agencies locally
- Rated Good. Across Lincolnshire, 88% of the 83 rated home care agencies are Good or Outstanding and 5 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (May 2026) is more recent than 87% of agency ratings in Lincolnshire.
- Registered with CQC in 2021: it has been registered longer than 42% of home care agencies in the area.
- It lists 2 specialisms with CQC; the typical agency in Lincolnshire lists 5.
Benchmarked against all CQC-registered home care agencies in Lincolnshire (Oct 2026).
Also nearby
Guides for families
Gainsborough: home care agencies inspected recently
- Pinnacle Care Professionals LtdJun 2026 · 5.7 miles
- Grosvenor House Care HomeFeb 2026 · 3.3 miles
Questions about Sterling Care Services
- When did CQC last rate Sterling Care Services?
- The latest rating is dated 11 May 2026; ask whether there have been changes since.
- Does Sterling Care Services support people with dementia?
- Dementia is listed on its CQC registration. Ask what dementia training staff have and how they handle distress or refusals.
- Is Sterling Care Services registered with CQC?
- Registered, yes: location 1-11686477656 on the Care Quality Commission register, listed as a home care agency and was rated Good overall in May 2026.
- What is Sterling Care Services's address?
- Mercury House, Willoughton Drive, Gainsborough, DN21 1DY is the agency's office; check it serves your postcode.
- How is Sterling Care Services rated for safety and leadership?
- CQC rates five key questions. For Sterling Care Services: Safe: Good; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Good. Safe and Well-led are the sections most worth your time.
- What are Sterling Care Services's fees?
- Sterling Care Services's prices aren't on our site yet. Visiting care typically costs around £32–£34 an hour (typical 2026 prices across England). Ask for a written quote that includes weekend and bank holiday rates.
- Which provider runs Sterling Care Services?
- L&J James Investments Ltd is the registered provider for Sterling Care Services.
- What type of care does Sterling Care Services provide?
- Registration for Sterling Care Services covers: homecare agencies. Check which of these it offers today.
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In Lincolnshire
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Built from the CQC register (Oct 2026) under the Open Government Licence v3.0, plus our own calculations. The provider wrote only the parts labelled as its own words. The Care Panel is a directory and does not deliver care.