Home Care

Hi there, you can browse and compare pricing of home care providers in your loved one's area (and across the UK) on the website Lottie : lottie.org/home-care/search/?^utm_source=gransnet

You can filter by budget, CQC ratings and the support their specific needs. It's a totally free service!

You can connect with any nearby care agency and take part-time care. They will provide the best care support. You can trust the carers because they are NHS-certified care agency and experienced.

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Allsorts Do you know if your neighbour is eligible for funding from the council? If so, she can apply for Direct Payments - you then get to choice the care provider as opposed to the council choosing on your behalf (which I assume is that she meant by "NHS one"). I know the eligibility criteria for people who self fund their care is assets and savings over (roughly) £23,250, anything below that is part funded by the council on a sliding scale until care services are fully funded by the council (below £14,250).

Worth checking out if she is eligible (contact the adult social services in your area and as part of their assessment they will also do a financial assessment). In terms of private (self-funded) care, your best bet on finding a good agency is word of mouth recommendations and online reviews - Homecare.co.uk is the best for this (they verify all their reviews before publishing them, and they are coming from the person receiving their care or their families, unlike google reviews that can be faked).

Cost of care varies based on where you are located, however you are looking at starting from £23 p/h for a care provider. You can hire your own carers privately, but this will require more vetting from yourself as this is an unregulated market (unlike care providers that are regulated by the Care Quality Commission, aka CQC).

Remember, if you are unhappy with any aspect of your care from a care provider, you can raise this with CQC if the provider is not taking the appropriate actions.

Exactly that.
We had to keep our wits about us, the next time she went in.

MissAdventure

They discharged my mum without care, with the result that she had to live with me for nine months.

I’ve found when my mum and my fil were about to be discharged from hospital, that if you’re not working and have space , social services will try and get you to care for your relative. With both I had to stress that I work and can’t do full time care and we got the care package for 6 weeks in their respective homes .

The policy is that you can ask to see the hospital social worker, here.

They just kept putting it off, or they would not turn up, and my mum was discharged late one night, with nothing in place, and in a worse state than she'd been in when she was admitted.

MissAdventure that's not good at all ☹️
Mum was in Hampshire, I don't know if that would have made a difference. Different policies maybe?

They discharged my mum without care, with the result that she had to live with me for nine months.

Your friend will need a care package in place, before her discharge from hospital.
It's important to ensure its done before she is sent home.

It's a few years ago now (2018) but when my Mum was in hospital after a fall, and ready for discharge, the hospital refused to authorise it until she agreed to accept a care package.
Mum was adamant that Dad could cope, we disagreed.
In fact the social worker told me that as I had power of attorney I could overrule Mum.

Thankfully she relented, accepted the care and both she and Dad loved having Rosie visit every morning to get Mum up, showered, dressed and downstairs.
It gave Dad a much-needed breathing space.

Allsorts your neighbour will be entitled to six weeks care free of charge after she leaves hospital.
In Mum's case the occupational therapist visited the house and arranged some aids, eg a second banister rail on the stairs and some grab rails where needed.

After that a financial assessment will be done and any contribution your neighbour has to pay will be decided.
She doesn't have to accept this if she doesn't want to for whatever reason.

Your friend will need a care package in place, before her discharge from hospital.
It's important to ensure its done before she is sent home.

Allsorts if she is frail/struggling this is a good time to speak to adult social care and get things in place for her coming home.

I agree with Georges Gran. Get in touch with your local branch of Age UK. They are very knowledgable and very helpful.

Thank you everyone, the lady is now in hospital and will be out soon. Its seems a minefield whichever route you take to get good carers and so expensive, people with no resources must have a shorter life trying to manage.

Lots of cleaning agencies could provide a cleaner who will also do shopping and errands for much less than a trained carer. Care agencies will only provide what you need. There is a lot of issues with lateness and such but carers often have to cover for sick colleagues and can get
held up bt previous clients. You have to learn to go with the flow because its difficult to control.

In Hertfordshire it’s around £35/£40 per hour. I’m a companion and my gentleman has a carer for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. You must read the TCs though as there’s lot of them.

I employ a couple of carers privately. I pay £20 an hour and it all goes to the carers, no agency. They come in when I need them and for the hours I want. As has been said, work out what you want them to do. I think very few agency’s will come in at a time you ask for, mainly a morning, lunchtime etc slot. But if it’s critical I.e. the person cant get out of bed without help then an agency is the way to go.

I have a private carer who comes from a care company. She comes twice a week for four hours and does shopping and house cleaning but not personal care. I pay the company monthly. £30 an hour but the actual carer only gets £12 a hour plus £6 travel allowance.
She is excellent at the job now after a few errors. The main one being she was arranging things in my home as she thought they should be e.g. items in the bathroom put where I couldn’t reach them. This was soon stopped by me and apart from the occasional shopping shall I say mistake, we have now reached after 6 months a good working relationship.
The care company provides cover for holidays, illness and any other emergencies as that was something I was concerned about.
My daughter has discussed installing a couple of cameras especially in my bedroom but as I am in the house while the carer is here and she is always very busy I have hesitated to agree but I have thought about it.
I was very reluctant at first to have a stranger in my home but as I had got older I had to admit I did need help. I think it is important that you research the company carefully, try to speak to people who already use them, I was lucky as my sister had and recommended them highly.
Social services in my area no longer supply home help for non urgent cases but will suggest options available privately.
All I would say is do be careful and remember you are paying a lot of money for a service and if not satisfied don’t be afraid to complain.

It is possible to find someone "just right".
My uncle has.
He is near Brighton and there are two or three people who "rotate".

My mum had her purse stolen when the only people who had been into her home were social services approved.

It's a minefield.

Sazzl. That is so appalling! What world we’re living in to do things like this to people who are in need

Beware of getting a private carer from advertising. I've worked as a carer in the past and people have told me they have had stolen clothing, wine, frozen joints of meat, cashback when paying for petrol for clients car, food, coffee, dishwasher tablets, duvet covers and sheets, jewellery, money etc. Get cameras before you employ anyone. Hope this helps. Best wishes x

In the UK private carers are hideously expensive. The NHS don't provide carers they arrange for somebody to come in, usually from the local council. They will come for 30 mins. in the morning and evening, maybe lunchtime. But you never know when they will turn up.

I have a "Micro Provider" at £20 per hour. They are vetted by Somerset Council but are self employed. What services offered varies with individuals.

I would not dismiss the NHS ones they do what they are asked they do their best in time given. No telling private agencies are any better! seriously worth looking out for adverts on local social media sites or shop windows sometimes there are people working alone willing to do care work