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Mental health care in Darlington

There are 13 mental health care services in Darlington registered with the Care Quality Commission. 10 carry a published CQC rating, and 9 of those are rated Good or Outstanding. The other 3 are unrated, which usually means they have not been inspected since registering rather than that anything is wrong. Privately arranged care is quoted by the hour, and the Homecare Association puts the minimum a provider must charge in 2026-27 at £34.42, or about £481.88 a week for two half-hour visits a day. The council paid providers £18.34 an hour in 2023-24, the 12th lowest of 150 councils in England and 13% below the £21.19 median. That is 13 of the 23 home care services in Darlington. Registration sets what a service is allowed to provide. It does not say how well it does it, so read the inspection report and ring two or three before you decide.

What home care costs in Darlington

None of the 13 services in Darlington have published their rates here yet. Ring two or three and ask. Most will quote over the phone.

For comparison, the Homecare Association puts the minimum sustainable price at £34.42 an hour for 2026-27. That covers careworker pay at the statutory minimum for all working time including travel, mileage, wage-related costs, and the minimum cost of running a compliant care business.

How home care pricing works →

Darlington paid independent agencies a median of £18.34 an hour for the home care it commissioned in 2023-24, against the £34.42 the Homecare Association says it costs to deliver in 2026-27. What every council pays →

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13 services

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Home Instead

Darlington

GoodCQC, Jul 2023

  • Sensory impairments
  • Caring for adults under 65 yrs
  • Dementia
  • +4 more
Hourly rate
not published
Pays carers for travel
not published
Shortest visit
not published
See this serviceCall them

Ascot Care Agency

Darlington

Requires improvementCQC, Aug 2023

  • Caring for children (0 - 18yrs)
  • Sensory impairments
  • Services for everyone
  • +6 more
Hourly rate
not published
Pays carers for travel
not published
Shortest visit
not published
See this serviceCall them

Lotus Home Care Darlington

Darlington

Not yet rated · on the register 1 year

  • Caring for children (0 - 18yrs)
  • Caring for adults under 65 yrs
  • Learning disabilities
  • +3 more
Hourly rate
not published
Pays carers for travel
not published
Shortest visit
not published
See this service

Mental health care in Darlington: questions people ask

How much does mental health care cost in Darlington?
None of the 13 services in Darlington publish a price, so you get a figure by ringing them: most quote by the hour after an assessment. The Homecare Association calculates that a provider needs to charge at least £34.42 an hour in 2026-27 to pay careworkers the statutory minimum for all their working time and run a compliant business. Two half-hour visits a day at that rate is roughly £481.88 a week. Darlington paid £18.34 an hour for the care it commissioned in 2023-24.
Will the council pay for mental health care in Darlington?
Darlington can arrange and fund care after a needs assessment, which is free and which anyone can request. What you contribute depends on a separate financial assessment. It paid providers an average of £18.34 an hour in 2023-24, the 12th lowest of 150 councils in England. The Homecare Association's minimum sustainable price is £34.42 for 2026-27. Those are different years, so treat the pair as context rather than a like-for-like gap. What a council pays shapes which agencies will take council-funded work at all.
Which mental health care services in Darlington are rated best?
10 of the 13 services in Darlington carry a published CQC rating and 9 of those, 90%, are rated Good or Outstanding. None is rated Outstanding. A rating describes the service on the day it was inspected, so check the report date as well as the word.
Is Darlington well served for mental health care?
13 of the 23 home care services in Darlington are registered to support this, 57%, against 59% across England. That is about average. Registration is permission rather than specialisation, so it sets the size of the list rather than its quality.
How do I choose a mental health care agency in Darlington?
Start with what the regulator publishes, then ask what it cannot tell you: who would actually visit, whether it is the same carer each time, what happens when that person is ill, and how long a call really lasts. 3 of the 13 services in Darlington carry no published verdict at all, so for those the questions are the only evidence you have. Every service here comes from the public register, and contacting one costs nothing: we take no fee and no commission.

Other kinds of care in Darlington

All home care in Darlington →Mental health care across England and Scotland →