Compassion
Care is a relationship before it is a service. We recruit for warmth first, because the rest can be taught.
About Skillcare
A CQC-registered homecare provider built on a simple idea: care should fit the person, not the other way round.
Who we are
Heart of Homecare
Skillcare Limited is a CQC-registered homecare provider working across North, West, East and Central London and Hertfordshire. We are rated Good by the Care Quality Commission across all five inspection domains, and we are Brent Council award winners.
Skillcare was founded in 2012, out of a frustration that many families will recognise. Care was being delivered to the clock rather than to the person. Visits were measured in minutes, with a different face every week and nobody who could tell you how last Tuesday had actually gone. The people doing the work were rarely the problem. The way it was organised almost always was. More than a decade on, that founding conviction still decides how we run: the person comes first, and the rota is built around them rather than the other way round.
So we built the organisation around continuity. Small, consistent carer teams. Matching that takes personality, language and culture as seriously as it takes clinical skill. Care plans written with the person rather than about them. And a training academy in-house, because you cannot promise a standard of care you are not prepared to teach.
Today we support people through everything from a couple of hours of companionship a week to full live-in and complex care, alongside NHS discharge teams, district nurses, GPs and local authority commissioners. The scale has changed. The principle has not: care should feel like someone turning up who knows you, in the place you call home.
Our approach
Every package begins with a free assessment at home, with no obligation attached to it. We look at the whole picture, covering health, routine, home environment, culture, language, and what someone actually wants their week to look like, and we tell you honestly what would help and what would not. If we are not the right provider, we will say so and point you somewhere better.
The difference
What makes us different
Continuity by design
A small named team around each person, planned geographically so the same carers can realistically get to you. Consistency is a rota decision, not a promise.
Genuine rapid response
We hold capacity back specifically for emergencies so that 2–4 hour mobilisation is a real commitment rather than a best-case scenario.
Training in-house
Our own academy delivers all of the required Care Certificate standards plus specialist and refresher programmes. These are provided both to our carers and to other organisations.
Language and culture
A genuinely diverse team, with matching on language and cultural background wherever it is wanted. It is often the detail that changes everything.
Visibility for families
Through our digital care management platform, families can see visit notes, medication records and wellbeing observations in real time, even from the other end of the country.
Straight answers
If we cannot take a package on, we say so immediately. Professionals tell us that honesty about capacity is worth more than any amount of marketing.
Our values
Six things we hold to
Dignity
Privacy, choice and control belong to the person receiving care, in every task, however routine it seems.
Independence
Good care does as much as is needed and no more. Where we can help someone need us less, we do.
Transparency
Clear records, clear costs, clear escalation. Families should never have to work out what happened.
Growth
Continuous professional development for every carer, and a culture where asking for more training is welcomed.
Reliability
Turning up, on time, as agreed. It sounds unambitious until you have been let down by a provider who didn't.
Recognition
Awards & accreditations
CQC Rating: Good
Good across all five domains: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. View our CQC report
Brent Adult Social Care Awards 2022
Home Care Worker Award, recognised for frontline excellence and compassionate service delivery.
Brent Health and Social Care Awards 2023
Registered Manager of the Year, recognised for leadership, quality assurance, and person-centred care governance.
Innovate Awarding Approved Centre
Approved Centre for Training, delivering accredited health and social care training programmes.
UKCA & MHRA Registered Device
We have developed a wellness device which holds UKCA Class 1 and MHRA registration.
Homecare.co.uk Verified Provider
An independently verified provider profile carrying reviews from families.
TrustedCare Member
Listed with TrustedCare, the independent care review and comparison platform.
ICO Registered
Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as a data controller, registration number ZB562848.
Quality management
We operate a documented quality management system covering policy control, audit, supervision, incident reporting and continuous improvement. Policies are version-controlled and reviewed on a scheduled cycle, and our audit findings are available to commissioners on request.
Createch Innovation Award winner
Awarded by Winmark, in collaboration with the University of Warwick, for software we developed for public good. This provides recognition that the technology we build is judged outside our own sector as well as inside it.
Next step
Your first meeting with us
Our free assessment is a supportive conversation where we learn about your needs and answer any questions. It’s not a sales appointment, and there’s no commitment required.
