AN online social care directory has been set up by a company in Checkendon.

Trustedcare, which is based at the 2Heads Global Design business park, helps care providers to promote their services and shares the experiences of clients through feedback and recommendations.

It lists details for 24,000 operators in the country and also provides a comparison service.

Mark Walford, who set up the website, said: “It’s a really good information source for people to understand who they are getting into bed with before they see the provider.

“The care industry has had a lot of negative press recently but hopefully we can help turn this around.


“We check everyone who has left feedback to make sure they have a genuine reason to do so.”

Mr Walford, a former business student at The Henley College, decided to set up the site after his mother Christina established a care company.

He said: “We noticed that quite often the people who are arranging the care on behalf of loved ones are a long way away.

“It’s a vast distance for them to travel and there’s no way these people can look at all the providers. I wanted to create a platform for people to engage and share experiences.”

Mr Walford, from Chinnor, has funded the set-up costs himself and hopes to earn revenue from subscriptions to the site. Care providers can pay £300 per year to use more features on the site and expand their profile but the the site will remain free to users.

Henley MP John Howell, who visited the office to officially make the site live, said: “It’s really important to know what’s good and what’s not in this type of industry.

“This has the potential to drive up standards right across the board.”

For more information, visit www.trustedcare.co.uk

Published 07/01/13