Legalese
Terms and Conditions of Use
Please read the following website Terms and Conditions, which relate to the use of Bestcarehome.co.uk. If you do not accept these Terms and Conditions, please stop using the website immediately. By using this website, you are agreeing to these Terms and Conditions.
In these Terms and Conditions, the following words have the following meanings unless otherwise expressly stated:
- "the operator" means "Utilitas Knowledge Management Limited" and its authorised agents.
- "the website" means www.bestcarehome.co.uk (and its sub-domains, such as "photo.bestcarehome.co.uk") unless it is clear from the context that it refers to another website.
- "you" or "user" refers to the user or viewer of the website and the organisation you work for if you are viewing the website in the course of your professional duties.
- "Buyer" means a user who purchases goods and/or services from the operator via the website.
- "List Price" means the list of prices of the goods and/or services maintained by the operator as amended from time to time;
- "Subscription services" means additional features on the website or reports that are provided by the operator to the buyer for a period of months or years in exchange for regular payments, under these Terms and Conditions.
- "Purchased Reports" means a document including data or market intelligence or opinions produced by the operator.
- "Goods and Services" means offerings for sale by the operator, including Subscription services and Reports.
General Terms
The copyright statement and the Privacy policy on this website forms part of these Terms and Conditions.
The content of this website is subject to change without notice.
The operator may alter these terms on one months notice at any time, such notice appearing on the website only. Users are therefore strongly advised to check these terms and conditions periodically.
These terms are not intended to benefit anyone other than the user and therefore any third party rights that might otherwise be implied are expressly excluded.
Public Content
The following conditions apply to all content on the website that can be accessed without payment.
- you may view online or print or download to a local hard disk extracts of this website for your personal and non-commercial use only.
- you may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website as the source of the material
- you may not, except with the express written permission of the operator, distribute or commercially exploit the content, nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.
Users must exercise due diligence
The method used by Bestcarehome.co.uk to calculate the Quality Index and rank care homes within the search results is designed to be accurate and fair. The Quality Index algorithm relies primarily on data extracted from inspection reports published by the regulator over the last three years. In addition, the Quality Index of a care home is increased if they are members of certain quality assurance initiatives, such as Investors In People. A full description of the current Quality Index algorithm is available for download from the "About" section of the site.
Users of the site should note that third parties, including the care homes themselves, supply the data we use to calculate the Quality Index. Although we make every effort to ensure accuracy, including random checks on information supplied by the care homes, it is possible that there may be errors in the data, or there may be errors in the analysis or weaknesses in the methodology used.
Therefore, users are strongly advised to use this website as an initial guide only and if you find a care home that may suit your purposes the operator strongly recommends you check all the available information about the care home, including the original versions of inspection reports, visiting the care home in person and doing anything else a normal, cautious person would do before making a final decision on placement in a care home.
The website is intended to be comprehensive, helpful and accurate but it may be appropriate to exclude care homes from time to time. Exclusion should not be interpreted by users as being negative as it may happen for one of many reasons including oversight by the operator. The operator reserves the right to exclude a care home at its absolute discretion without giving reasons for such exclusion.
The algorithm used to calculate the Quality Index may evolve over time without notice and the relative positions of care homes may change due to adjustments to the algorithm as well as due to new information being added to the system.
Care home providers please note
The website is designed to help people chose the right care home and to encourage high standards amongst care home providers. For the website to maintain credibility it is important that it is fair to all parties.
The formula for the Quality Index is designed to treat all care homes equally and should result in fair reports in most cases. It is possible that the formula may be occasionally miscalculated or based on incorrect data. For this reason, we allow providers to review key information used to calculate the Quality Index (this is available from the care home summary page, after you register to edit a care home profile). If you identify errors, you should bring this to our attention as soon as possible. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage to any care home for such an error so the sooner it is brought to out attention, the better.
At the time of writing, the only information you supply that is taken into account by the Quality Index algorithm is the membership of professional bodies and quality assurance schemes. Certain schemes are considered favourably by the algorithm and result in a slightly higher ranking, though this will in most cases be only a few percentage points. In view of this, we reserve the right to ask you for proof of these things at any time and failure to do so within a reasonable time may result in your listing being suspended or removed.
In requesting to edit details of a care home, the user expressly confirms that they are authorised by the owners of that care home to do so and will indemnify the operator personally and on behalf of the user if such editing is unauthorised.
All information given to the operator for the website relating to a care home must comply with the following requirements. Any failure to do so may result in removal of a listing in whole or in part and in the event of such failure the owner of the care home will pay to the operator any costs claims or liabilities it incurs as a result of such failure. The requirements for all content submitted by owners of care homes are:
- All content must be fair, accurate, lawful, not in any way misleading, offensive or discriminatory
- All content must belong to the owner of the care home or be licensed to it for inclusion on the website and must not in any way breach of any third partys intellectual property rights
- All uploaded files (such as video or photos) must comply with the operators prevailing limitations on size and format of files and not require further editing, adjustment or amendment by the operator.
Immediately prior to sending to the operator for inclusion on the website, all content must be passed through up-to-date virus prevention software and be clear of any virus, worm, Trojan or other device that may have a negative impact on the operation of a computer.
Other unauthorised use
The use of robots or other automated means to access the website without the express permission of the operator is strictly prohibited. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the operator may permit automated access to access certain pages of the website but soley for the limited purpose of including content in publicly available search engines (which must not republish information other than cached images of whole pages). Any other use of robots or failure to obey the robots exclusion standards set forth at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robots_Exclusion_Standard is strictly prohibited.
The operator has included some technical protection so that if copies are made it will be incontrovertible proof that breach of copyright has taken place.
Remedies
Unauthorised use of this website may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offence, for example under the Privacy and Electronic (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. In the interests of legitimate users, it is the policy of the operator to report illegal use to the relevant authorities and seek full legal redress for copyright infringement and other abuses of the website.
If owners of care homes provide information about their care home which the operator believes to be inaccurate, the operator reserves the right to suspend or remove the care home from the website in its absolute discretion.
Purchased Subscription services and reports
In addition to the public content that is available at no cost, certain additional services and reports are available for purchase on the site. Orders for such Goods and Services shall be deemed to be an offer by the Buyer to purchase Goods and Services pursuant to these Terms and Conditions and are subject to acceptance by the operator. The operator may choose not to accept an order at its absolute discretion.
Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in reports purchased via the website automatically belong to and will remain the property of the operator. The licence to view reports supplied in electronic formats (e.g. PDF) is to a specific individual, team or organisation depending on the license fee paid and knowingly allowing access to the report by people to whom it is not licensed is expressly forbidden.
In the case of Subscription services:
- Payment for Subscription services must be made by direct debit, bank standing order or recurrent card payment.
- Each payment for Subscription services purchases a period of the service in advance; for example, a monthly payment purchases one month of the service; a quarterly payment purchases a period of one quarter of the service.
- The Buyer may terminate the service at any time by cancelling the direct debit or requesting the operator terminate the recurring payment. In this event, the operator will continue to provide the service until the date the next payment was due. No refunds of subscriptions will be made in the event of cancellation except where cancellation arises as a result of the operator ceasing to provide the Subscription services or failing to provide the services for a period in excess of one month. An exception is made where the operator receives a payment from the Buyer after the Buyer has requested termination of the payment schedule in writing.
- Prices for subscription services may be amended after notice given on this website, or in an email sent to the Buyers last known email address. The notice period will be not less than 30 working days prior to the advised implementation date, after which subscription prices, including direct debits and recurrent card payments may be amended.
In the case of one-off purchases:
- Payment of the total purchase price (including any applicable delivery charges) must be made in full before despatch of the Goods.
- Payment may only be made online by credit / debit card, other than by prior agreement with the operator.
- No refunds are available other than for non-delivery of Goods or for faulty Goods provided that no refund will be made if the operator later delivers the Goods or replaces faulty Goods with non-faulty Goods.
- The price of reports shall be that stipulated on the website/as contained in the Sellers Quotation (as applicable) at the date of order or as agreed between the parties in writing.
Disclaimers and exclusions of liability
The information contained in this website and in published reports is for general information purposes only. The information is provided in good faith, and whilst the operator endeavours to keep the information up-to-date and correct, the operator makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk
The operator draws data from official sources beyond the operators control and other information from the providers of care homes, that is also beyond the operators control. The operator uses all reasonable efforts to transfer and analyse the data and apply its formula equally to all care homes on the website, though missing data may sometimes distort the results of the Quality Index score and search rankings. Whilst the operator will endeavour to bring this to your attention, you must exercise caution in how you use the information provided by the website and must exercise due diligence as outlined above. We cannot accept any responsibility for any damage or loss that a user (or the person a user seeks to place in a care home) may incur.
The operator requires all information provided by owners of care homes to be accurate and fair and in no way misleading. However, it is not possible for the operator to verify all content provided by such owners and users must verify all such information as part of their due diligence enquiries before selecting a care home.
Backups, virus-prevention and website availability
The operator requires the providers of all content to pass all content through up-to-date virus prevention software and the operator does likewise before uploading any content to the website. However, new devices that may not yet be detectible are created all the time and no-one including the operator can guarantee that the website content is free of viruses, worm, Trojans or other devices that may impact the operation of a computer or computer system. Users are therefore strongly advised to have their own up-to-date virus prevention software and to pass any content they download through that software and also to make sure that they take regular back ups of all systems and data files to minimise losses should an attack occur. For this reason the operator does not accept any responsibility for loss or damage arising from such a device that a user may incur by using the website.
In no event will the operator be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website or reports published or sold by the operator.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of the operator. The operator has no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them nor can it accept any responsibility whatsoever for any loss incurred by the user when using such websites.
The operator makes every reasonable effort to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, the operator takes no responsibility for the website being unavailable or not otherwise fully operative for periods of time.
Emails are normally a reliable means of communication and the operator will communicate with users at their last known email address. However, emails can mysteriously disappear or be removed accidentally, so if a user subscribes to any emails or report notifications and a notification is not sent by the operator or received by the user, the operator accepts no responsibility for that omission (other than possibly refunding part of any subscription that may have been paid for that service).
Severance
If any term or provision of these Terms and Conditions is held invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason by any court of competent jurisdiction, such provision will be severed and the remainder of the provisions of these Terms and Conditions will continue in full force and effect as if they had been agreed with the invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision excluded.
Force Majeure
The operator will not be liable for any delay or failure to perform any of its obligations if the delay or failure results from events or circumstances outside its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, strikes, lock outs, accidents, war, fire, breakdown of plant or machinery or shortage or unavailability of raw materials from a natural source of supply, and the operator will be entitled to a reasonable extension of its obligations.
Applicable law and jurisdiction
These Terms and Conditions will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and in the unlikely event of a dispute, the parties agree to endeavour to settle the matter amicably and failing that to refer the matter to mediation but if all else fails then the dispute will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts of law.
Privacy Policy
BestCareHome.co.uk is about empowering people to make great choices for themselves, their loved ones and their patients. Utilitas Knowledge Management Limited, (the owner of this website) treats your privacy with great respect and in this privacy policy will lay out how we use any personal information that you pass to the operator when using the BestCarehome.co.uk website - and the protections we provide for that information.
Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement. As part of our commitment to your privacy we have registered our use of personal data with the Information Commissioners Office (registration number Z1734994).
The operator may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. The current version of this policy is effective from 21st April 2009.
What we may collect:
- your name and job title
- nature of your interest in the site (whether a potential care home resident, social worker and so on)
- contact information including an email address
- information about your use of the site, including IP address and type of browser
- your address and phone number if you wish to use features of the site dependent on this information
- payment history if you purchase products or services via the site
- other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers
We require this information:
- to customise the website according to your interests and needs
- to improve our products and services
- to periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting
- from time to time, to contact you for market research purposes
Please note however that you can opt out of marketing and promotional communications at any time by un-ticking the relevant box in your settings (as described in the section below "Controlling your personal information.
Transfer of BestCareHome.co.uk
In the event of a sale or transfer of the website, we reserve the right to transfer your personal information with the business operating this website on the understanding that the new owners would be obliged to honour your privacy as set out in the latest privacy statement and would be liable to you for any issue (the liability of Utilitas Knowledge Management Limited of course ending once the business has been transferred).
Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
How we use cookies
A cookie is a small file stored on your computers hard drive when you first use the website. This is passed back to our website each time you request another web page and allows us to tailor the site to your needs. For example, it allows the website to show a different menu if you register and login to the site. It also allows you to click the "Remember me" button so you do not need to enter your user name and password on each visit to the site.
We also use cookies to monitor the traffic and usage of the site, such as helping us understand which pages users of the site find useful and which they do not. The tool we use to analyse web traffic is Google Analytics, a service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Our website passes cookies to Google, including information about the browser you use, your IP address and which page you visited prior to the current one. This information is stored by Google on servers in the United States for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for the operator and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties if required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Googles behalf. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about your use of the website by Google, in the manner and for the purposes set out above. Technically this means that data is transferred into a jurisdiction that may not comply with EU data protection laws, though the operator chose Google for this service as it is highly reputable.
A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or provides information about you beyond that described above. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
Links to other websites
Our website contains links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question. Whilst we would be grateful if you report any problems you may have so we can monitor the quality of our links, we cannot get involved in disputes regarding misuse of your personal information by such sites which are strictly between you and the relevant website owner.
Controlling your personal information
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information and protect yourself in the following ways:
- You may choose not to register your details on the site - in this case the only information recorded about your use of the site is via Google Analytics as described above, though certain features of the site will not be available to you;
- If you register on the site, you must provide your email address and by doing so you are consenting to the operator contacting you on matters relating to your registration or use of the site � the only way to prevent this is not to register;
- The operator will not use your email for other purposes unless you provide explicit permission, which may be withdrawn at any time. The registration process allows you to select or deselect features to control how the operator uses information about you. You can change these settings at any time by logging into the site and using the "settings" feature. Please note:
- If you select the "email updates" option, you are providing permission for the operator to send you occasional emails about the website, other websites run by the operator and information about third parties that we think you may find interesting. Other than in exceptional circumstances these emails will not be more than once per month.
- If you select the "inspection updates" option, you are providing permission for the operator to send emails to you when a new inspection report is published for any care homes you have added to your "watch list".
- If you select the "care home updates" option, you are providing permission for the operator to forward email updates from care homes you have added to your "watch list".
- If you have entered your phone number in the "request call-backs" setting, you are providing permission for the operator to store your phone number and pass this to care homes if you click the "request call-back" feature of a particular care home profile.
- If you have entered your address in the "request brochure" setting, you are providing permission for the operator to store your address and pass this to care homes if you click the "request brochure" feature of a particular care home profile.
- For the "request brochure" and "request call-backs" features, the operator requires care homes to agree not to store the passed on personal information for future use, though we cannot be held responsible if they do so. Such an event would however be a breach of your privacy and we may take action against the care home concerned such as de-listing their care home from the website
- We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.
- You may request details of personal information that we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you, please write to
If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please in the first instance try to modify this by logging into the site and using the settings facility. If this does not address your concerns, please email us as soon as possible, at . We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
Direct Marketing
The operator may use direct marketing to inform Care Homes about the site, though such activity will comply with the requirements of the Privacy and Electronic (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. This means that will use the Fax Preference Service, the Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service to "clean" lists before any such direct marketing. If a Care Home does not wish to receive such marketing material, free registration with the FPS, MPS and TPS is advised.
Copyright Statement
Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in this website and reports produced and/or sold by it belong to Utilitas Knowledge Management Limited, company number 6783370 and its data providers. This material includes, but is not limited to, the core data, design, layout, look, appearance and graphics. Any redistribution or reproduction of any part or all of the contents in any form is strictly prohibited other than under the exceptions set out by the Terms and Conditions of use for the website.