A care helpline has launched a new feature to encourage nursing homes and care providers to be more transparent about what they are offering residents.

Autumna, an independent care expert based in Tunbridge Wells, offers advice to those seeking additional support for their loved ones.

People can browse through all 29,500 of the UK's care providers on Autumna's website, and they now all have a 'profile score' - a score out of 100 determined by how much detail the care company has given on itself.

This new feature appeared at the weekend, with care homes gaining points for being upfront about fees, services provided and who the staff are. Lots of photos also bump up the score.

Autumna is the largest social care platform in the UK, and is believed to be the only company offering such detailed profiles on each provider.

Founder Debbie Harris said: "We have spent lots of time very carefully working out the scoring system and have focused on what matters the most to families, which we have learnt from 10 years of experience.

"No one has been penalised if they don't provide certain services, but instead, the level of information given about their services."

When a care company adds more information to its Autumna profile, its score automatically increases.

Mrs Harris added: "We have tried to be as transparent as possible with the care providers so they know what they have to do."

The 58-year-old is also driving for more coverage on the inner workings of care homes in the media.

She observes there have been many documentaries on hospitals - such as Channel 4's 24 Hours in A&E - but hardly any filmed in the care sector.

She said: "There are around 1.6 million people working in social care compared to 1.4 million in the NHS but the NHS gets all the glory.

Autumna's advice to families wanting to bring a relative home after they've had Covid-19

"Of course, the NHS is very important but social care and the NHS support each other - one cannot exist without the other and care homes are the main way hospital unblock beds. If they didn't, the hospitals would shut.

"There have been very few TV shows focused on care homes. There was one, Old People's Home for Four Year Olds, but not much else. We needs more of this kind of thing."

She added: "Some people view care homes as the last resort but in our experience, people can often hang on to being at home even when it is the wrong place to be. If you find the right care home, life can be transformed.

"Care homes are also often very fearful that they're just going to get bad press. Some are so wary, they have given up in some instances. So there is so much that goes on in a care home that just isn't captured at the moment."

In addition to the new profile scoring system, Autumna has produced a series of video guides, giving people advice on how to deal with certain situations brought on by the pandemic.

In one of the more recent videos, Mrs Harris discusses families wishing to bring a relative home after they've suffered with possible Covid-19.

To find out more about Autumna and browse the care companies in your area, visit the website here.

Read more: All the latest news from Tunbridge Wells