Care in your own home

Carefully chosen home care with a good-quality provider is an excellent way to retain your freedom and independence, whilst getting the help you need to stay happy and safe. It can offer the opportunity to stay at home, in your own familiar surroundings, and to retain a quality of life you might have feared lost.

Why choose home care?

Reasons for choosing home care can vary. Sometimes after a stay in hospital, someone might find they need some help whilst they recuperate. Others can find that a long-term condition or disability means they can no longer cope, and they need a bit of help.

After a stay in hospital someone may carry out an assessment of your situation to see if home care will benefit you. You and your family will be fully involved in looking at what will suit you best if you’d like them to be.

Alternatively, you or those close to you might notice changes in your ability to manage the day-to-day things you normally cope with easily, like preparing meals or looking after yourself. If this happens, contacting Adult Social Care is a good first step towards finding help.

How home care can help you

The level of home care provided can be tailored to meet your needs – from a visit once a day to a much greater amount of support.

Even those with quite significant and debilitating medical conditions can get skilled personal care that can enable them to stay in their own homes. Some agencies will provide live-in care, where a care worker will stay with you at home to support you throughout the day and night. See below for more information about live-in care.

A list of all home care agencies operating in the area starts on page 29.

Live-in care

Live-in care is a viable alternative to residential care, where a fully trained care worker lives and works in your own home to support your individual needs and help you maintain your independence. The carer must be allowed breaks and have somewhere to sleep at night.

Support available from live-in carers can range from personal care and mobility assistance to more complex health requirements, as necessary. The cost of live-in care varies depending on your circumstances, including the level, type and duration of care that you require.

Any organisation that employs live-in carers is required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and ensure that its employees follow the essential standards of quality and safety in their practices. For more information about the CQC, see page 5.

Finding care in your area

Looking for care in your area? Want to know the quality rating of providers you’re considering? Care Choices, publisher of this Directory, has a website providing comprehensive details of care providers as well as essential information. care homes, care homes with nursing and home care providers that meet your needs across the country.

Your search can be refined by the type of care you are looking for and the results can be sent to you by email. They can also be saved and emailed to others. 

 The website includes detailed information for each care provider, including the address, phone number and the service’s latest CQC inspection report and rating (see page 5), indicating the quality of care provided.

You can also view an electronic version of this Directory on the site and have it read to you by using the ‘Recite Me’ function. Visit

www.carechoices.co.uk

The Care Quality Commission (www.cqc.org.uk ) is responsible for checking that any care provided meets essential standards of quality and safety. Further information is on page 5.

The Homecare Association requires its members to comply with a code of practice. This code includes a commitment to treat customers with dignity and respect and operate at a level above the legal minimum required in legislation.

Social care regulations do not apply to cleaners, handypersons or gardeners. However, some home care agencies are increasingly providing staff who can help meet these needs too.

The benefits of using a regulated agency include: • assessing your care needs and tailoring a plan to

meet those needs; • advertising, interviewing and screening suitability of workers; • arranging necessary insurance cover; • providing training and development for care workers; • managing workers’ pay, including compliance with the National Minimum Wage; • managing employment relationships, including sickness, absence and disciplinary matters; and • managing health and safety issues.

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