Home care makes a huge difference to the lives of clients and their families. Whether it involves assistance with daily living tasks, medical management, companionship or all of the above, this service enables people to receive personalised care in the comfort of their own homes.
If you’ve decided to select a home care services agency for yourself or a loved one, there are a number of steps to consider. This process may feel daunting at times, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Let’s break it down, including how to find different home care agencies, which preferences and options you should consider, and the topics you should raise in your consultations.
For personalised advice, contact our team at Aspire UK today.
1. Browse Home Care Services Agencies
First, you may want to see what’s out there. You can browse home care services agencies in your area in a number of ways:
- Through the NHS: Visit the NHS website to browse a range of homecare services and national homecare providers.
- Through your local authority: Their website may have a directory of adult social care services.
- Through the Care Quality Commission (CQC): The CQC monitors, inspects, regulates and reports on health and adult social care services in England. Visit their website to browse home care agencies and their inspection reports.
- Through the Homecare Association: Homecare providers can also be found via the UK’s membership body for homecare providers.
2. Weigh Up Your Payment Options
Once you have undertaken some research and have one or two agencies in mind, make sure you confirm their payment rates and policies. These factors can vary between agencies and may guide your decision-making.
On average, the average annual cost of care at home for one person is approximately £18,000, according to which.co.uk. However, costs can vary between agencies and based on your circumstances.
Keep in mind you may have two payment options available. In the UK, people either arrange and pay for their own home care, or if they are eligible, their local council arranges their care and pays for some or all of it.
Here is how these payment arrangements work at Aspire UK:
- Help from your local council: Many of our clients access assistance through their local council. To determine an individual’s eligibility, the council will first undertake a care needs assessment. If they are recommended for home care, the council will pay for some or all of this service through Personal Health Budget (PHB) payments.
- Direct debit: Many clients also pay for their own home care. In this case, monthly service fees are directly debited from their bank each month. These payments can be stopped at any time by request.
3. Consider the Agency’s Values
Aside from payment arrangements, the other significant factor to consider is how your chosen agency will operate and what their values are.
Below are some of the topics and questions to keep in mind when weighing up your options. Ultimately, you want to find an agency that both offers a high standard of care and aligns with your own values.
- Their overall culture, values and operations: Try to get a big-picture view of your chosen agency, including what they do, how long they’ve done it for, and why the work matters to them.
- Their approach towards staffing: Investigate how the agency finds, vets, recruits and trains staff. You will want to ensure they can provide consistency of care and workers you are comfortable with.
- Their communication with clients and families: Are staff members responsive to the needs of individuals and their families? How do they keep channels of communication friendly and open?
- Their policies, procedures and standards: Look for a range of resources, including their paperwork, CQC reports or online reviews. If possible, also speak to multiple staff members to check for consistency throughout the business.
4. Arrange a Face-To-Face Consultation
Initially, to determine some of the factors above, you may browse a number of websites online and make calls to different agencies. These are important steps, but make sure you round out the process with at least one face-to-face consultation with the agency or agencies of your choice.
This is a crucial opportunity to get a feel for an organisation and ask more complicated or sensitive questions, including questions around payment, staffing or their overall values and culture.
We Support Families Throughout Leicester and Leicestershire
Aspire UK was founded in 2000 and has grown to become a leading provider of home care services in the Leicester and Leicestershire area. Our goal is to help people maintain their independence and continue to do the things that bring joy and fulfilment to their lives.
If you think Aspire might be the right choice for you or your loved one, we invite you to get in touch and book a free consultation.
