Care home cleaning is infection-prevention cleaning of a residential care setting where vulnerable adults live. Optus Glean UK cleans care and nursing homes to the NHS National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness 2025 and CQC Regulations 12 and 15, using Enhanced-DBS-checked (with barred-list) PAYE operatives and BICSc colour-coded equipment on fixed monthly pricing.
A care home is both a clinical and a domestic environment
A care home mixes clinical spaces (treatment rooms, sluices) with the resident's own home, so cleaning must be both rigorous and respectful. We clean to the NHS National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness 2025, assigning each functional area an FR1-FR6 risk category that sets its cleaning frequency, audit frequency, and target score, reported as a five-star rating.
Sluices, bathrooms, and treatment rooms sit in the higher-risk bands; lounges, corridors, and offices sit lower. See how the NHS 2025 standards work, and how we cover every care setting.
CQC Regulations 12 and 15 - the inspection evidence
Care homes are CQC-registered, so Regulation 15 (clean, suitable, maintained premises) and Regulation 12 (assess and control the risk of infection) both apply - and CQC can prosecute a Regulation 12 breach where it exposes a person to significant risk of harm. Our cleaning schedules, colour-coding records, COSHH assessments, and audit results give inspectors the evidence trail both expect. Read CQC cleaning requirements and our wider CQC premises cleaning.
Infection control and colour-coding
We use the BICSc four-colour system - red for sanitary areas, yellow for clinical and isolation areas, green for kitchens, blue for general areas - to prevent cross-contamination, with COSHH-assessed products and documented method statements. Where a home needs its linen handled to healthcare standards, our laundry and linen service works to the BS EN 14065 RABC approach.
Enhanced-checked staff and care regulators across the UK
Working in a care home is regulated activity with vulnerable adults, so operatives hold Enhanced DBS checks with an Adults' Barred List check, or the Disclosure Scotland (PVG) / AccessNI equivalents. Every operative is PAYE-employed and trained to our infection-prevention standard - see DBS checks for cleaners. Care is regulated by CQC in England, the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, Care Inspectorate Wales, and RQIA in Northern Ireland; we clean to the equivalent national basis wherever the home is.
Respect for residents and their homes
Cleaners work around residents' routines with a named primary cleaner and named relief, so residents see familiar faces rather than a rotating agency crew. Pricing is a fixed monthly fee against the agreed specification, with no hourly call-out charges and one consolidated invoice for a care group.
Example cleaning approach in a care home (risk-led)
| Area | Relative risk | Typical approach |
|---|---|---|
| Sluice / treatment rooms | Higher | Frequent clean and disinfection; yellow clinical colour-code |
| Bathrooms & toilets | Higher | Frequent clean; red sanitary colour-code |
| Resident bedrooms | Medium | Scheduled clean; touchpoints; respectful of the resident |
| Lounges, corridors, offices | Lower | Routine daily clean; blue general colour-code |