How is a care needs assessment arranged in Dorking?

The request goes to Surrey County Council, which is responsible for adult social care assessment where you live. Ask for a care needs assessment for the person concerned, by telephone or through the council's online form. Say at the start that nursing care may be needed, since that finding is what governs much of the funding that follows. There is no financial test to get an assessment, so do not let an expectation of paying privately put you off asking.

Will Surrey County Council contribute to what this costs?

Funding follows two findings rather than one: that the care is needed, and that the person cannot reasonably be expected to pay for all of it. Surrey County Council makes both judgements, taking income, savings and property into account. A nursing need assessed as present can attract a health service contribution towards the nursing element, which sits outside the council's calculation. If you are told you must meet the whole cost, you are still entitled to the council's advice.

Which providers near Dorking offer this care?

The providers listed here number six, all registered with the Care Quality Commission to serve Dorking. Dorking Manor, Downsvale Nursing Home, Garth House, Rose Hill Nursing Home and Deepdene Care Centre are among them. Of the full list, four hold a Good rating, one is rated Requires Improvement and one has no published rating yet. Open any profile to see the inspection report that sits behind the rating.

What is the difference between a nursing home and a care home?

The dividing line is nursing registration. Personal care covers washing, dressing, medication and daily routine, and trained care staff provide it; clinical care such as wound management, feeding tubes or unstable conditions needs a registered nurse on the premises. All six providers shown here for Dorking hold nursing registration. If nursing input is likely within the next year or so, raise it before anything is agreed.

How early should we begin?

Earlier than for a residential placement, since nursing beds are harder to come by. The practical argument for starting early is simple: you get to choose rather than take what is left. Time also allows both assessments to run properly instead of being rushed. Where the situation is already urgent, say so plainly when you telephone, since homes sometimes keep a little flexibility in reserve.

What should we ask before choosing in Dorking?

Staffing first: how many are on shift during the day and overnight, how often agency staff are used, and how long the present manager has been there. Ask which clinical conditions the home manages routinely and which it would decline to take on. Ask to see the week's activity programme and then check it against what is actually happening around you. Finally, ask the manager what the last inspection found and what came of it.

Nursing Homes in Dorking

Dorking has 6 CQC registered nursing homes. 4 are rated Good, 2 Requires improvement. 2 of the 6 were last inspected more than three years ago.

Source: Care Quality Commission register, kept up to date as ratings change.

Dorking at a glance

What the local numbers say about care for older people in Dorking, to help you judge the options below.

Surrey County Council pays, residential care: £952 a week. Self-funders are typically asked £1,654 to £1,931, median £1,772
Care home beds filled across Surrey: 88%. The 12 month average is 87%.
Care home beds per 1,000 people aged 75+: 80. Surrey average is 90.
People aged 75 and over: 12,100. Rising to 13,900 by 2035, up 15%
Care homes, last 12 months: 0 opened, 1 closed. 1 changed owner, covering 42 beds.
Who pays, across Surrey (estimate): 32% council, 52% self. The rest is NHS funded or other.
Living with dementia, aged 65 and over (estimate): 1,600. Rising to 2,000 by 2035, up 23%
People aged 85 and over: 3,600. Rising to 5,200 by 2035, up 44%

Planned and recent building work within 5 miles

Westcott House Guildford Road Westcott. Application for a 24 bed care home. Submitted 19 September 2025. Decision pending. (1 miles away)

Powered by Orrery Intelligence. Market model built 22 October 2026 (ONS 2022 based population projections, CQC register), published care home prices, council planning records.

Arranging nursing care in Dorking and settling the cost

Nursing placements involve one more moving part than residential ones, because the clinical need has to be established before anything else follows from it. Two processes then run alongside each other: an assessment of the care required, and a financial assessment of what the person can be asked to contribute. Neither depends on a home having been chosen.

The assessment

Anyone who appears to need care and support has a right to have those needs assessed, whatever their finances. For people living in Dorking this is arranged through Surrey County Council, which is responsible for adult social care assessment and for funded support. Say at the outset that nursing care is in question, because the assessment needs to record whether a nursing need is present, and that finding often decides what funding is available. A relative providing care can request a carer's assessment in their own name at the same time.

Fees and the nursing component

Each home sets its own weekly fee, reflecting the accommodation and the clinical input together, so a written quotation is the only figure worth planning around. Where a nursing need is assessed as present, part of the cost may be met by the health service rather than by the council, and it is worth asking both the home and the council how that is handled before agreeing terms. The financial assessment then decides how the remainder divides, weighing income, savings and property. Ask what the quoted fee excludes and how much notice is given of an increase.

Choosing between the nursing homes in Dorking

Interrogating the nurse cover

Ask how many registered nurses are on duty by day and overnight, and what happens when one is absent at short notice. Find out whether nursing shifts are filled by permanent staff or by agency, because continuity matters as much clinically as it does socially. Ask which conditions the home manages routinely and which it would decline, since registration describes a category rather than a specific competence. Downsvale Nursing Home, Garth House, Rose Hill Nursing Home, Westcott House Nursing Home, Deepdene Care Centre and Dorking Manor each have a profile here with that detail attached.

Reading a mixed set of ratings

For the four homes rated Good, open the report and look at which assessed areas were strongest, paying particular attention to safety and to the management of medicines. For the home rated Requires Improvement, establish what the inspector actually found, whether it concerned clinical care or paperwork, and what has changed since. The home without a published rating should not be set aside on that basis; ask when it registered and when a first inspection is expected. Check the dates throughout, since an older report describes a home that may have changed hands.

6 nursing homes in Dorking

Deepdene Care Centre · Hill View, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1SY
Nursing home · CQC Requires improvement · Nursing on site · Run by MMCG (2) Limited
Deepdene is a nursing home in Dorking, Surrey. We support older people and younger adults whose needs include nursing care, including many living with dementia, and we offer respite stays. Having registered nurses as part of the team means...
Specialisms: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, Younger Adults, Respite Care
Westcott House Nursing Home · Guildford Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3QD
Nursing home · CQC Requires improvement · Nursing on site · Run by Y & M Care Westcott Ltd
Westcott House Nursing Home is in Dorking, Surrey, caring for people who need qualified nursing support alongside help with daily living. We care for older people and younger adults, support residents living with dementia or a mental...
Specialisms: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, Mental Health, Physical Disability, Visual / Hearing Impairment, Younger Adults, Respite Care
Downsvale Nursing Home · 6-8 Pixham Lane, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 1PT
Nursing home · CQC Good · Nursing on site · Run by Monarch KM Ltd
Downsvale Nursing Home is in Dorking, and we provide nursing care for older people, for younger adults whose conditions require qualified nursing, and for those needing respite while a family carer has a break or recovers from illness...
Specialisms: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, Younger Adults, Respite Care
Garth House · Tower Hill Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 2AY
Nursing home · CQC Good · Nursing on site · Run by Aria Healthcare Group LTD
Garth House is a nursing home in Dorking, and Surrey has been our home for a long time. We care for older people whose needs go beyond help with daily living and into qualified nursing, and we keep registered nurses on duty at every hour...
Specialisms: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, Younger Adults, Respite Care
Rose Hill Nursing Home · 9 Rose Hill, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 2EG
Nursing home · CQC Good · Nursing on site · Run by Rosehill (UK) Limited
Rose Hill is a nursing home in Dorking providing nursing and personal care for older people and younger adults, including those living with dementia. Registered nurses are on duty at every hour, working with carers who know the people they...
Specialisms: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, Younger Adults, Respite Care
Manor · Ridgeway Road, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3AY
Nursing home · CQC Good · Nursing on site · Run by Hamberley Care FV (Dorking) Limited
Here at Dorking Manor, we provide nursing home care for older adults in the heart of Dorking, Surrey. We are a place where residents feel genuinely at home, and where families can feel confident that their loved ones are being looked after...
Specialisms: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, Physical Disability, Visual / Hearing Impairment, Respite Care

What care costs in Surrey, per week

Type of care	What the council pays	What self-funders are typically asked
Residential care Middle half of prices from 18 Surrey homes. Median £1,772.	£952	£1,654 to £1,931
Nursing care Middle half of prices from 13 Surrey homes. Median £2,025.	£988	£1,920 to £2,155
Residential dementia care Middle half of prices from 14 Surrey homes. Median £1,842.	Not published separately	£1,725 to £2,020
Nursing dementia care South East figure, because too few Surrey homes publish this price. 37 homes. Median £2,050.	Not published separately	£1,975 to £2,226

Published prices are often starting prices, and come from homes that publish fees, so treat them as a guide. Ask the home for its own price. Powered by Orrery Intelligence.

Inspected most recently

Dorking Manor, 28 September 2026, Good
Westcott House Nursing Home, 18 August 2026, Requires improvement
Rose Hill Nursing Home, 9 July 2026, Good

Longest since a report

Garth House, 5 March 2019, Good
Downsvale Nursing Home, 2 July 2021, Good
Deepdene Care Centre, 12 June 2025, Requires improvement

Frequently asked questions about nursing homes in Dorking

How many nursing homes are there in Dorking?

Dorking has 6 CQC registered nursing homes: 4 Good, 2 Requires improvement. Counts come from the CQC register and are kept up to date as ratings change.

How much does a nursing home cost in Dorking?

Surrey County Council pays an average of £952 a week for residential care. Self-funders are typically asked £1,654 to £1,931 a week. Middle half of prices from 18 Surrey homes. Median £1,772. Published prices are often starting prices, and come from homes that publish fees, so treat them as a guide. Ask the home for its own price.

Which nursing homes in Dorking were inspected most recently?

Dorking Manor (28 September 2026), Westcott House Nursing Home (18 August 2026) and Rose Hill Nursing Home (9 July 2026) have the most recent CQC reports.

Local care news in Surrey

New 30 bed care home registered with CQC in Waverley: Bridge House Care Home (5 November 2026)
CQC register adds a new care home in Waverley: Cedar Court Care Home (5 November 2026)

More local care news for Surrey