PrestigeNursing Care

www.prestige-nursing.co.uk

easy steps to choosing a homecare agency

WHERE DO I START?

01

It’s a decision likely to have a big effect on someone’s life, which is why finding the right sort of care at home for a friend or loved one can appear so daunting at first sight. A family concern, Prestige Nursing + Care has been caring for people in the comfort and privacy of their own homes for over 60 years and we have put together this simple and practical guide to help make this most important of decisions just a little easier.

There are 4 ways you might start in choosing your homecare agency

• If you think that you might need care at home then the best place to start is by talking to your local council’s social work team who are obliged to perform an assessment of your care needs if you request it. If they agree that you need care, they will undertake a assessment to see if you are eligible for assistance. In Scotland there is no assessment for people aged 65 and over as the majority of care is provided free of charge.

• For more complex care where nursing may be involved, contact should be made with the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) who will again assess your needs and may fund all or part of the costs of care. The local council or PCT will provide the care themselves or purchase from a list of approved agencies. In England

and Wales people may be required to make a contribution to their package of care, whilst many choose to enhance the range of services subsidised by the local council or PCT by purchasing extra help from independent agencies such as Prestige Nursing.

• Alternatively, you or your family may choose to fund the care without any state assistance. You may choose to use a local care or nursing agency or possibly employ someone yourself. If you employ your own careworker you should be aware of your potential obligations as an employer.

• A small but growing number of people take up the option of using the Direct Payments Scheme, where it is available. Here, the state gives you a cash entitlement and you then take responsibility for organising your own care.

HOW DO I CHOOSE MY

AGENCY?

WHAT KIND OF CARE?

02

03

There are many di�erent sources of information on care and nursing agencies, most of which can be accessed quickly and e�ectively over the internet.

• Regulatory bodies for homecare agencies across the United Kingdom. These are the Care Quality Commission in England, the Care Commission in Scotland, the Care and Social Services Inspectorate in Wales and the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority in Northern Ireland. For details of all of these websites please visit the useful links page on the Prestige Nursing + Care website.

All of these bodies give visitors the

opportunity

to

search for local care and nursing agencies

them and to view inspection reports

online.

• On-line directories and search engines such as google.co.uk, yell.com or thomsonlocal.com or pick up one of the various community care guides

that can be found in doctor’s surgeries or in hospitals.

• The United Kingdom Home Care Association’s has a website where you will a list of their members

• Local social services will typically have a list of their approved providers.

• Word of mouth is also very important; if you know of someone who used a good agency, then consider shortlisting them as well.

It is also worth checking the ownership of the agencies you are researching. Some will be single branches of much larger companies, some will be independently owned and some will be franchised, where they are owned and possibly managed by a franchisee but follow the business model of another company.

Once you have a list of agencies that you want to contact, it is important to have an idea of the kind of care you are looking for. This will range from personal care (help with bathing, toileting and dressing for example) to social care (companionship, help with shopping, food preparation for example).

How many hours a day do you think you will need and how many times a week. Will you want live-in care, where someone lives in the house to care on an on-going basis, or is it more short term where you need to have help following discharge from hospital or to give an existing carer a break. Good agencies will be able to suggest different packages to suit your needs, but it does help to have a good idea about what those needs are in the place. At Prestige Nursing + Care we have a simple guideto homecare terms on our website to explain what many of these types of care are.

hoW CaN I CheCk qualItY?

PlaNNING the Care

04

05Thisisacriticalpartofchoosingahomecareagencyandwilldirectlyinfluencethequalityofcarethatyoureceive.Allhomecareagenciesshouldoffertovisityouinyourownhometoassessyourneedsandtoconductariskassessmentinconjunctionwiththeproposedcarepackage.Itisimportantthatthepersonreceivingthecareisputrightattheheartofthisplanningprocess,sothattheeventualcareplanhelpspromoteantheirprivacy,dignityandindependence.

Itisthecareplanthatwilldictatehowthecareisdelivered,soitisimportantthatyouarehappywithitsrecommendationsanditisoftenthecasethatotherstakeholderssuchasGP’s,Consultants,districtnursesandfamilygetinvolvedatthisstage.Askifyoucanmeetthecareworkerstheagencyhasinmindforthecareandwhattheirpreviousexperienceofthistypeofcarewas.Feelingsatisfiedthatallyourneedshavebeenaddressedisanimportantpartofthisprocess.

Start contacting the list of agencies you have chosen and talk through your requirements. You might ask them to send you some literature and their current price list.

• Comparehowhelpfultheyareoverthephoneandhowquicklytheycanrespondtoyourneeds.

• Askforreferencesfromexistingcustomerswhereappropriate.

• Checkouttheirinspectionreportontherelevantwebsitesmentionedabove.

• AskhowtheyrecruitandtrainstaffandhowoftentheyconductCriminalRecordsBureau(CRB)checksandwhetheryoucanmeetthenominatedcareworkerbeforecarecommences.

• DothemanagerorthecarestaffhaveNationalVocationalQualificationsinCare,asthisisincreasinglybecomingarequirementoftheregulatorybodiesinthissector?Therealtestofqualityforanycareagencywillbeinthestafftheyprovide,sodon’tbeafraidtoasklotsofquestionsonthisarea.

CoNtINuItY of Care

hoW do I PaY?

06

What If the Care Needs

ChaNGe?

08

07

Beforeyoufinallysettleonanagency,askfortheirchargesandacopyoftheirtermsandconditions.Whatmethodsofpaymentcanbeusedandwhenwillyoubeinvoiced?Ifitisnotyoupayingthebill,oryouaresplittingitwithaLocalouncilorPCT,cantheyaccommodatethis?Askwhetherthereareanyhiddencostswithinthechargesandwhattheydoanddon’tinclude.VATshouldnotbechargedonhomecareservicesinthemainandchargesheetsshouldincludemoststatutorychargeswithinthehourlyrate.Againitisimportantthatthechargeyouunderstandyouwillbepayingisidenticaltothefinalinvoiceyoureceivesotryandclarifyalltheseissuesnow.

Abiginfluenceonthequalityofcaregivenisthecontinuityofstaffwhoareresponsiblefordeliveringthecare.Invirtuallyallcasesthelesscareornursingstaffchangethebetter,asittakestimeforthemtofullyunderstandaperson’sneedsandhowtheyliketobecaredfor.Clearlysicknessandabsencemaycaycausecarestafftochangeunexpectedly,butwhenyouarelookingtochooseanagencyaskthemhowtheywillensurethecontinuityofcareandwhatstepstheymighttaketodealwithunexpectedabsences.

Youwillwanttoworkwithanagencythatisresponsivetochangesincareneedsandonethatcanupdatetheaforementionedcareplanaccordingly.Regularmonitoringvisitsbytheagencyshouldallowthemtoanticipateanychangeslikelytooccurandthereforeplanfortheminadvance.Althoughthecareplanshouldbeupdatedregularly,itisimportantthattheagencycommunicateswithboththepersonreceivingthecareandthecareworkersinvolvedtoensurethatanychangestoaperson’sneedsareidentifiedearlyon.

WHAT IF I’M NOT HAPPY?

09

REVIEWING THE SERVICE

10For more details of the organisations listed in this guide please go to the Useful Links section of the Prestige Nursing + Care website to find out more. A simple glossary of homecare terms can also be found on our site.

www.prestige-nursing.co.ukPrestige Nursing + Care LtdGreenview House, 5 Manor RoadWallington, Surrey SM6 0BWTel: 0845 6000 949www.prestige-nursing.co.uk

Reg: 1006953 England.Registered by the Care Quality Commission for the supply of nursing and care sta�.

Unfortunately problems do arise when delivering care, despite the best intentions of the people concerned. If you are unhappy with any aspect of the care then good agencies will respond immediately and put corrective action in place to ensure there is no repeat. When choosing a homecare agency ask about their complaints policy and how they will deal problems should they arise. No agency can ever guarantee they will have no complaints but they can guarantee they will deal with them quickly and sympathetically.

As we mentioned earlier, care needs change, as do the expectations of the person being cared for. It is important therefore the agency does review on a regular basis the service it gives whether it uses simple customer feedback forms or gains feedback over the phone. Either way you have a right to expect this feedback to be incorporated into the on-going care and should ask the agency how they achieve this.

Carers should be supervised regularly to ensure best practice and the homecare manager of the agency should also visit on a regular basis. Sometimes an annual review is appropriate, especially when an element of joint funding is involved, and the local council or PCT will meet with all people involved in the care to review progress and to look at where improvements can be made.

PrestigeNursing Care+

www.prestige-nursing.co.ukPrestige Nursing + Care LtdGreenview House, 5 Manor RoadWallington, Surrey SM6 0BWTel: 0845 6000 949www.prestige-nursing.co.uk

Reg: 1006953 England.Registered by the Care Quality Commission for the supply of nursing

PrestigeNursing Care

Age ConcernFor more information and details for your localAge Concern in England, please call the Age ConcernInformation Line on 0800 00 99 66 (free call) or visitwww.ageconcern.org.uk

In Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, contact:Age Concern Northern IrelandTel: 028 9032 5055Website: www.ageconcernni.org

Scottish Helpline for Older People (Age Concern Scotland)Tel: 0845 125 9732Websites: www.olderpeoplescotland.org.uk

www.ageconcernscotland.org.uk

Age Concern CymruTel: 029 2043 1555Website: www.accymru.org.uk

Help the AgedHelp the Aged produces a range of free advice and information sheets for older people. These areavailable from the Information Resources Team orcan be downloaded from the website.Tel: 020 7278 1114Website: www.hta.org.uk

Assist UKThe national voice for disabled /independent living centresin the UK.Tel: 0870 770 2866Website: www.assist-uk.org

Benefit Enquiry LineGovernment-run information line about forpeople with disabilities, carers and representatives.Tel: 0800 88 22 00 (free call)

Carers UKGeneral help and advice for all carers.Tel: 0808 808 7777 (free call)Website: www.carersuk.org.uk

Care Quality Commission (CQC)The CQC took over from the Commission for Social CareInspection on 1 April 2009. It is responsible for the registrationand inspection of social care services in England.Read or request copies of inspection reports online.Helpline: 03000 616161Website: www.cqc.org.uk

In Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, see:Northern Ireland Social Care CouncilTel: 028 9041 7600Website: www.niscc.info

Scottish Commission for Regulation of CareTel: 0845 603 0890Website: www.carecommission.com

Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW)Tel: 01443 848450Website: www.cssiw.org.uk

Disabled Living FoundationRuns an equipment demonstration centre, providesinformation about equipment for daily living.Tel: 0845 130 9177Website: www.dlf.org.uk

Elderly Accommodation CounselMaintains a nationwide database of housing forolder people and provides guidance to help enquirerschoose suitable accommodation.Advice line: 0800 377 7070 (free call)Website: www.housingcare.org

National Centre for Independent LivingProvides information on living independently andemploying care workers.Tel: 020 7587 1663Website: www.ncil.org.uk

NHS ChoicesDetails of local health services in your area andinformation about particular medical conditions.Tel: 0845 4647 (NHS Direct)Website: www.nhs.uk

United Kingdom Homecare Association Ltd (UKHCA)Provides support to social care organisations in promoting high standards of care and providing representation with national and regional policy-makers and regulators.Tel: 020 8288 5291Website: www.ukhca.co.uk

USEFUL CONTACTS