Private beta · UK home care agencies and care homes
Staff references, chased, checked and ready for CQC.
RefTrail asks your new starter's referees for a reference, chases the ones who go quiet, checks that each referee is real, and keeps one clear record for every person you hire.
Free for 3 months for the first 10 providers.
Amira Hassan
Care assistant · Start date 18 November
- Reference 1✓ Verified
Registered manager, home care agency, Leeds
- Reference 2Chasing
Deputy manager, nursing home, Wakefield
- Why the last care job ended✓ Recorded
Moved closer to family
- Gaps in work history✓ Explained
Mar to Jun 2024: caring for a relative
- Requests sent to 2 referees
- Reference 1 returned and checked
- Reminder 2 sent to referee 2
Hiring carers is slow enough already
Referees go quiet
A care worker can't start until references are back, and someone in the office has to keep chasing.
Some references are hard to trust
A reply from a personal email address, or from a referee nobody has heard of, leaves you guessing.
The evidence is scattered
When an inspector asks, the proof is spread across inboxes, paper forms and phone notes.
How it works
Four steps, most of them done for you
Add your new starter
Type their name, role and referees. It takes a couple of minutes.
We contact the referees
Each referee gets a short form by email with your service's name on it. They don't need an account or a password.
We chase and check
Reminders go out until the reference comes back. We look up the referee's organisation on Companies House and check their phone number.
You get one clear record
Every reference, date and check sits in one place, ready to show an inspector or add to the staff file.
Regulation 19
Built around what CQC asks for
Regulation 19 says the people you employ must be of good character, and Schedule 3 lists the evidence you need to hold. RefTrail collects the parts that depend on past employers.
- Conduct in past jobs in health or social care, or with children or vulnerable adults para 4
- Why those jobs ended, where they involved children or vulnerable adults para 5
- A full work history, with gaps explained in writing para 7
Keep running your DBS, right to work and ID checks as you do now. RefTrail doesn't replace them.
Easy for referees, too
Referees get a short form with no login, a clear note of who is asking and why, and a page that explains how to check the request is genuine. RefTrail never asks a referee for a password or a payment.
What referees see →Private beta
Join the beta
We're looking for 10 UK care providers to use RefTrail from January 2027 and tell us what's missing.
- Cost
- Free for 3 months. After that, beta providers pay half price for their first year. Plans will start at £79 a month.
- What we ask
- Use it for your new starters, and tell us how it went on a short call once a month.
- Your data
- Staff data will be stored in the UK. We sign a data processing agreement before any staff data goes in.
Questions
Is RefTrail live yet?
Not yet. It's in private beta with a small group of UK care providers from January 2027.
Does it work for care homes as well as home care?
Yes. It works for any CQC-registered service that hires staff.
Where will my staff data be stored?
In the UK. Every provider signs a data processing agreement before any staff data goes in, and records are deleted at the end of the retention period you choose.
Where is RefTrail based?
We are based in Istanbul, Türkiye. RefTrail is built for UK care providers and UK rules, and your staff data stays in the UK.
What will it cost?
Free for 3 months during the beta, then half price for your first year. Plans will start at £79 a month.
How did you get my email address?
From your service's listing in a public care directory. If you'd rather not hear from us, reply "no thanks" or email hello@reftrail.co.uk and we'll remove you straight away.