Home Care

I wonder if it’s worth getting in touch with Age UK - as your neighbour needs ‘personal care’ rather than just general help.

There are some agencies which provide more of a home help type service, but costs pretty big.

Around £30 ish an hour, roughly.
The council run home help service should never have been stopped, in my opinion.

I've a distant relative who provides home help, and has done for many, many years, helping do whatever is needed by people.

The NHS doesn’t provide carers unless people need specific nursing care Allsorts, I think your friend is thinking about Local Authority carers, who are often now Agency staff contracted by the LAs to help people get up or to bed?

My Mum has a LA carer in the morning (20 minute call) to help her get up and washed, and a one hour private lunchtime carer to cook lunch and prepare the evening meal which Mum and Dad then sort for themselves. They also have a cleaner, who is there two mornings a week, they are both in their mid nineties. I’d agree on the cost with what others have said.

I’d advise your friend to think carefully about her needs before committing to paying for two hours a day in the morning only, and then discuss her needs with a couple of agencies - not all care agencies provide carers who will clean and shop as well as provide personal care, so it’s really important to define exactly what you’re looking for first.

We pay £30 an hour in Sussex. Private agency staff visit twice a week for an hour at a time. They have taken great care to ensure there is a team of four or five who visit regularly so they have built a familiar network around my mum.

I was fortunate that a friend had found carers for his mum a few years before I needed to. They had tried out quite a few agencies and so we benefitted from their experience. My advice, therefore, is to ask around locally for recommendations.

When a friend contacted an Agency a few years ago, it was £25 an hour and double on Bank Holidays. It was a National Company and she did employ them for her Aunt, but quite a few issues.
Another friend employed a local Agency, a couple of willing young sisters attended - but always running late and everything was rushed.
Another friend’s son worked for a local agency - again tales of not having long enough with the client and everything pared down and rushed.
I should imagine if cost isn’t really an issue - your neighbour could request as much time as she wants.