How we work
Methodology — what we measure, what we publish, and how.
Akinn is built on three commitments: published methodology, independent verification, and total transparency about what we don't yet do.
Data sources
Each care home listing combines three data sources, each with different update cadences and verification standards:
- CQC ratings and reports. Come from the Care Quality Commission's Syndication API, which CQC updates daily. We show the report-published date on every listing, alongside how long ago that was, so you can see how current a rating is. We do not adjust or interpret CQC's ratings.
- Provider-disclosed information. Fees, room types, specialisms, and availability are entered by the provider through our portal (in development). Where the provider has not yet engaged, we mark the listing as "Awaiting provider profile" rather than guess.
- Family reviews. Verified against a real connection to the home. Submission is currently coming soon.
Verification standards
We use the badge "Listing verified" to indicate that a listing has been confirmed by our verification team to be (a) a CQC-registered care home in the correct category, (b) operating at the listed address, and (c) reachable through the listed enquiry route. Verification is performed at first listing and re-confirmed annually.
This is distinct from provider verified — confirmation that the person managing a listing is authorised to act for that home. Provider verification arrives with the provider portal; until then, every listing on the platform carries only the listing-verified gate above.
What we don't claim
Until our review submission and enquiry workflows are live in production, we don't claim a verified-review count beyond what is in our static data. We don't claim response-time figures we can't measure. We don't claim a "trusted by N families" figure of any kind. When we have the data to back a claim, we'll make it. Not before.