Three companies from Suffolk and north Essex have been named among the UK’s Top 20 large care home groups in the 2018 Care Home Awards.

Caring Homes, of Colchester, Healthcare Homes, based at Ardleigh, and Kingsley Healthcare, from Lowestoft, all feature in the listing for operators with more than 20 sites.

The awards are made by the carehome.co.uk website, based on review scores received by group properties over the past year.

One of Healthcare Homes’ properties, Uvedale Hall in Needham Market, also features in the Top 20 list of individual homes in the East of England.

Other homes from Suffolk and north Essex in the list include Alderwood Care Home, Colchester (run by Carebase Ltd); Baylham Care Centre, Baylham, Ipswich (Cardinal Healthcare); The Corner House and Corner Lodge, Clacton-on-Sea (both Care Fulfillment); Firstlings, Heybridge, Maldon (Sohal Healthcare); Montana Care Home, Great Barton, Bury St Edmunds (Grace and Compassion Benedictines); and Westerfield House, Ipswich (Westerfield House Care).

Helen Gidlow, chief operating officer at Healthcare Homes Group, which has 36 residential and nursing homes across East Anglia and the south of England, said: “This recognition means a great deal to us as it is based on the real experiences of people using our services.

“The carehome.co.uk website has been likened to the ‘TripAdvisor’ for our industry and as such includes honest, independent accounts of the quality of care we are providing. We are therefore delighted that the overwhelming feedback is so positive.”