Where to Start?
A short guide to home care

Home care, sometimes called home help or home support, is care provided in your own home to help maintain independence so your loved ones can continue living in their own home.

It often involves regular visits from a carer to support elderly people with:

• General cleaning or heavy housework
• Washing, bathing, or showering
• Toileting, hygiene, and continence care
• Healthy eating, drinking, and medication schedules
• Shopping & collecting prescriptions
• Washing and ironing
• Dressing and personal grooming
• Paperwork and bills

The process of looking for care can also feel overwhelming – especially if it’s the first time you have had to think about it. Each person’s care needs are different, and home care often includes specialist care for elderly people who require personal care, or those with Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Cancer, or those at the end of their life.

One of the important differences with care in your own home is that you can start with as little help as you like, and then grow over time as needs change. A good home care service should provide you with a flexible arrangement, but also offer consistency from the same visiting carer where possible.

The right care needs to suit the individual and their circumstances. But, before making any decisions about the type of care to choose, here are a few questions that will help you.

Once you have answered the questions above, you should be in a much better position to identify the right care.

Like all decisions we make, you may not always get it right the first time. Things can change quickly, so it’s best to know what options are available now and when things change.

The earlier you can start the conversation with your loved ones about care the better, and you might find it valuable to read our article ‘Starting the Conversation about Care’. It takes time to research all the different options in your area and it is much easier to do this when you are not dealing with an emergency or a relative who is no longer able to discuss anything rationally.

What is home care?

Care at home can range from a carer visiting once a week to overnight care or around the clock care live-in care in your own home. This can be provided by:

• Domiciliary Care Agencies
• Self-employed carers
• Introductory agencies
• Social services
• NHS

Domiciliary care agencies usually have a bank of carers. Visits can be very short (as little as 15 minutes) and the carer can change according to the agency’s rota. Many of the carers are on zero-hour contracts and paid close to the minimum wage. Domiciliary care agencies are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as they manage the care for you. Due to the cost of their operations, domiciliary care agencies are usually the most expensive option.

Self-employed carers are able to manage their own rota and set their own rates. They are usually more experienced and able to build up a relationship with the person they care for but they are currently unregulated. Self-employed carers may advertise in their local shop or you may hear of them by word of mouth.

Introductory agencies will introduce you to a pre-vetted, self-employed carer. They should have done checks on the carer to ensure they are qualified, referenced and DBS checked and can provide high-quality care. TrustonTap is an online introductory agency. Using the latest technology, TrustonTap can match you with the best self-employed carers in your area. The carers set their own hours and availability. They are much better paid and committed to providing excellent care.

Although defined as an ‘Introductory agency’ by CQC, TrustonTap has worked with local authorities in the region to establish a quality standard in which to measure all the carers and to ensure that they are capable and qualified to deliver excellent care. Carers that fulfill all the criteria of the TrustonTap quality standard are endorsed with the QPC Qualified Professional Carer accreditation. Learn more about our quality care.

Both Social Services and the NHS can provide care at home if their criteria are met. They usually outsource the care to domiciliary care agencies but if you apply for a Personal Budget, you can make your own decisions about who to use to provide caregiving you more choice and control over who comes into the home. Families can ‘top-up’ care provided by social services but cannot ‘top-up’ care provided by the NHS. This is because the NHS is a free health service and has to provide for all health care needs.