HOW TO HIRE · CARE & SUPPORT · CHECKED OCTOBER 2026
Medication support should come from a registered provider and be recorded dose by dose. Here are the checks and what to ask.
THE 60-SECOND VERSION
BEFORE YOU BOOK
In England, help with washing, bathing, dressing or using the toilet, given at home to someone who cannot manage it because of age, illness or disability, is the regulated activity of personal care. An agency sending a medication support worker to do it must be registered with CQC for that activity; one that says it has applied is not yet registered. Medication support is usually delivered by registered agencies as part of personal care visits; ask what the registration covers. An agency that only introduces a medication support worker and has no ongoing control is outside CQC registration in England and CIW registration in Wales, so no regulator inspects the care. If you hire and pay a medication support worker directly — including with direct payments — gov.uk says you are usually their employer: a contract, payslips, at least the National Minimum Wage, employers' liability insurance and payroll.
Search the agency on CQC's site, open the location that runs your care, check 'personal care' is listed and read the latest rating. Ask in writing whether the agency employs and supervises the carer or only introduces them, and who you pay. cqc.org.uk →
Wales: a domiciliary support service must register with Care Inspectorate Wales under Wales's 2016 social care regulation Act, unless an exemption applies, such as care for four or fewer named people at a time. Scotland: a care at home service may not operate unless registered with the Care Inspectorate. Northern Ireland: the RQIA registers domiciliary care agencies under the Domiciliary Care Agencies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007.
Wales: CIW's service directory. Scotland: the Care Inspectorate's find-care directory, with grades. Northern Ireland: RQIA's register of domiciliary care agencies. careinspectorate.scot →
Care work with adults can get the enhanced DBS check with the adults' barred list in England and Wales, or the AccessNI equivalent in Northern Ireland; in Scotland a medication support worker in a regulated role must be a PVG scheme member. You cannot apply for a DBS check on a self-employed carer yourself — they apply and show you the certificate, which has no official expiry date.
Ask to see the medication support worker's certificate or PVG proof and read when it was issued. gov.uk →
Injections and other clinical tasks need a nurse on the NMC register. The medicines themselves come from a pharmacist registered with the GPhC in Great Britain, or with the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland in Northern Ireland.
For any nursing task, ask for the nurse's NMC PIN; for a question about the medicines, ask the pharmacy. pharmacyregulation.org →
Help with medicines at home is exempt from VAT when a charity, a public body or a provider registered with CQC (England), CIW (Wales), the Care Inspectorate (Scotland) or RQIA (Northern Ireland) gives it under a care plan; other suppliers charge the standard 20%. A provider with VAT taxable turnover over £90,000 must register for VAT and must show the VAT as its own line on anything it charges outside the exemption.
Ask for the VAT number and confirm in writing that the medicines visits are invoiced as exempt care. gov.uk →
A good answer: What the plan says, nothing more.
A good answer: On a medicines administration record each visit.
A good answer: Recorded and reported to family or the GP.
A good answer: Named training and competency checks.
A good answer: Yes — reporting low stock and changes.
A good answer: A nurse on the NMC register, not a care worker.
A good answer: Only from a written change from the GP or pharmacy.
Medication support is priced per visit, usually fifteen to thirty minutes, one or more times a day. Medication Support price guide →
Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.
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AFTER
MONEY BACK
Help towards the cost of care, by nation. Attendance Allowance and Pension Age Disability Payment do not depend on having a carer; direct payments follow a care needs assessment.
Who: people at State Pension age or older whose disability or health condition means they need someone to help look after them
Who: people at State Pension age or over who have needed help with personal care for six months
Who: people at State Pension age with care needs from a disability or long-term condition
Who: people aged 16 or over assessed as needing care and support, carers, disabled parents and older people needing community care
Who: people assessed as needing social services help, including carers and parents of disabled children
Schemes change. The amounts above were checked on the dates shown; the official page is the one that counts.
Ask for its registration with CQC, CIW, the Care Inspectorate or RQIA — medication support is normally part of registered home care.
No — injections are for a nurse on the NMC register.
The GPhC in Great Britain and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland in Northern Ireland.
£12 to £27 a visit, typically around £18. Short visits several times a day add up; weekends cost more. The medication support price guide breaks the range down, and the search above lists medication support workers near you with their prices.
Not by a registered provider — VAT Notice 701/2.
Ask for the record, raise it in writing, and tell the regulator if it keeps happening; the provider owes reasonable care and skill under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
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