Home care · Cheshire West and Chester
24-hour care in Chester
When someone cannot be left alone, 24-hour care at home is usually a live-in carer, or day visits plus waking nights. Where night help is needed often, plan for two carers sharing the day and night. None has confirmed it to us yet, so ask the 40 CQC-registered agencies covering Chester directly.
Agencies from the CQC register, updated 27 October 2026. Prices: Typical prices across England in 2026
Key points
- 40 CQC-registered home care agencies have an office within 7 miles of Chester; 29 are rated Good or Outstanding.
- Which agencies provide 24-hour care is not on the CQC register, so ask each one.
- Typical prices here: live-in care around £1,540–£1,610 a week. Live-in care is usually the cheapest way to cover day and night.
- A care needs assessment from Cheshire West and Chester council costs nothing.
To cite: "24-hour care in Chester", The Care Panel, Oct 2026, from CQC register analysis.
Live-in care or waking nights?
Live-in care is usually the most affordable way to have someone there day and night: one carer lives in, but needs about two hours off each day and an unbroken night's sleep. Waking nights put a carer in the home who stays awake all night; combined with daytime visits, that covers all 24 hours. If help is needed most nights, one live-in carer is not enough: add waking nights or a second carer.
Typical local prices: live-in care around £1,540–£1,610 a week; a residential care home £1,205 a week.
Help paying for 24-hour care
Cheshire West and Chester council must offer a free care needs assessment; if it finds eligible needs by day and night, care at home can be part of a council care plan, and the value of the home is not counted for care at home. Attendance Allowance pays its higher rate of £114.60 a week to people over State Pension age who need help both day and night, whatever their savings. When the main need is a health need, NHS Continuing Healthcare may pay in full. Getting assessed by Cheshire West and Chester council.
When 24-hour care is needed
Families usually look for it after a hospital stay, when dementia means someone cannot be left alone or wanders at night, after repeated falls, or at the end of life. A care home is the alternative to compare: for one person it often costs less than staffing every hour at home, but many people want to stay in their own home.
Agencies covering Chester: the data
Cheshire Homecare Services Limited has the oldest rating still in force, from March 2018. Dementia appears on 31 of 40 registrations here (78%), compared with 76% in Cheshire West and Chester as a whole. Registered specialisms here: 32 of 40 list physical disabilities, 22 of 40 list learning disabilities and 25 of 40 list mental health conditions. Your Quality Care Services Limited (Wyldewoods) is the most recently registered, joining the CQC register in March 2026. Two-year-old ratings or newer: 8% covering Chester, 15% across Cheshire West and Chester. 97% of rated agencies covering Chester are Good or Outstanding, compared with 89% of those rated among the 136 we list across Cheshire West and Chester. Chester leads the 6 closest towns on our site on the share of every listed agency rated Good or Outstanding, at 73%, ahead of Helsby (70%). 3 Outstanding agencies are covering Chester, against 4 across Cheshire West and Chester.
How much 24-hour care costs in Chester
| Visiting care | around £32–£34 an hour |
|---|---|
| Live-in care | around £1,540–£1,610 a week |
What the council pays (Cheshire West and Chester Council): £24.85 an hour for home care (2025/26 average paid to agencies); £887.44 a week for residential care (2025/26 average, over-65s); £987.43 a week for nursing care (2025/26 average, over-65s) (source).
Agencies differ more than regions do on hourly rates, so request a complete tariff from each one, covering weekends and bank holidays too. According to the Homecare Association, councils across England should pay no less than £34.42 an hour for home care in 2026/27 if it is to be sustainable. Source: Lottie Care Index, Q3 2026. Tools: weekly cost calculator and what would we pay?
Home care agencies that cover Chester
Ranked on CQC rating, its date and then distance. Ask each one about 24-hour care.
Radfield Home Care Chester & Ellesmere Port
Est. £35–£43/hr
The Technology Centre
Est. £32–£39/hr
Pinnacle Caring Services Limited
Est. £30–£37/hr
Apollo Care (South Wirral)
Est. £30–£37/hr
The Hawthorns
Est. £30–£37/hr
C4 Care Limited
Est. £30–£37/hr
Laura Spence Aesthetics
Est. £30–£37/hr
Alcedo Care Cheshire West & Wirral
Est. £30–£37/hr
AMG Nursing and Care Services - Chester
Est. £30–£37/hr
Caring Alternatives
Est. £30–£37/hr
Adada Care Services(Cheshire)
Est. £30–£37/hr
Bowling Green Court (Chester) Limited
Est. £30–£37/hr
Special Needs Care Limited
Est. £30–£37/hr
The Chester Link
Est. £30–£37/hr
Helping Hands Chester
Est. £29–£35/hr
Homecarers Cheshire West
Est. £30–£37/hr
Callin Court
Est. £30–£37/hr
Belgrave Care
Est. £30–£37/hr
Cheshire Homecare Services Limited
Est. £30–£37/hr
24-hour care in Chester: common questions
Who provides 24-hour care in Chester?
Ask each agency: CQC keeps no record of who provides 24-hour care. Of the 40 registered agencies that have an office within 7 miles of Chester, 29 are rated Good or Outstanding.
How much does 24-hour care cost in Chester?
Typical prices across England in 2026: live-in care typically costs around £1,540–£1,610 a week. Covering every hour with separate day and night carers costs much more, because each hour is paid.
Is 24-hour care the same as live-in care?
Not quite. A live-in carer is there day and night but needs a daily break and a full night's sleep. If help is needed through the night most nights, true 24-hour care means adding waking nights or a second carer.
Can the council pay for 24-hour care at home?
It can, if Cheshire West and Chester council's care needs assessment finds eligible needs by day and night and care at home is a suitable way to meet them. A financial assessment follows; for care at home the home is not counted. NHS Continuing Healthcare pays in full when the main need is a health need.
How good are home care agencies around Chester?
97% Good or Outstanding (29 of 30 rated). 4 were inspected or rated within two years, and 31 are registered for dementia.
Need 24-hour care in Chester?
One short form: featured partners and a maximum of three rated agencies working with us will contact you directly by email.
More about care in Chester
Nearby towns for 24-hour care
- 24-hour care in Ellesmere Port 5.7 mi
- 24-hour care in Helsby 7.2 mi
- 24-hour care in Neston 9.7 mi
- 24-hour care in Bebington 11.1 mi
- 24-hour care in Runcorn 12.3 mi
- 24-hour care in Heswall 12.9 mi
- 24-hour care in Weaverham 13.7 mi
- 24-hour care in Widnes 13.9 mi
Built from the Care Quality Commission's register (Oct 2026) under Open Government Licence v3.0. The Care Panel lists and compares services but runs none.