Home Care in Billingshurst

Billingshurst has 3 CQC registered home care agencies. 2 are rated Good, 1 Requires improvement. 1 of the 3 was last inspected more than three years ago.

Source: Care Quality Commission register, kept up to date as ratings change.

Planning and paying for care in Billingshurst

Care bought by the hour makes the money question unusually concrete, so it repays settling before any schedule is agreed. The starting point is a care needs assessment, which costs nothing and is open to anybody who appears to need care and support, whatever their savings. It results in a written account of what the person needs and roughly how much support that implies, which is useful even if no public funding follows.

The assessment and the council's part

Assessments are arranged through the West Sussex County Council social care team, the body responsible for adult social care and funded support in this area. A separate financial assessment then looks at capital and income to establish what, if anything, the council will contribute. Asking for both at the same time avoids running them one after the other. A relative can make the request for somebody else, and a hospital social work team can start the process for an inpatient.

Rates and what they cover

Home care is normally charged by the hour or by the visit, and rates differ according to the time of day, weekend cover and how complex the support is. Above the national capital threshold the cost falls to the person receiving care. Below it the council contributes on a means tested basis, and support can be taken as a direct payment, which allows somebody to buy their own care rather than accept an arrangement made for them. No single local figure applies, so ask in writing what the rate covers, how short visits are charged and what notice a change of schedule requires.

Choosing a provider in Billingshurst and what to check

Where the three agencies stand

The Sussex Village Homecare Service Limited and Gozone Care Ltd both hold a Good rating from the Care Quality Commission. INFINITYCARE365 LTD is rated Requires Improvement, which describes the agency at its most recent inspection rather than permanently, and the report sets out exactly what inspectors wanted put right. That gives you a precise list to raise with the manager, along with the question of what has changed since.

The questions that matter

Ask how many different carers a client typically sees over a fortnight, and whether the rota allows travel time between visits. Ask what happens when a carer calls in sick, how late a visit must be before the office contacts you, and who answers the telephone in the evening and at weekends. Ask how care plans are reviewed and who writes them. Plain answers to those questions tell you a great deal about how an agency is run.

Reading the rating properly

Each overall rating summarises five separate judgements covering whether a provider is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led. An agency rated Good overall may still have been marked down on one of the five, and the full report says which. Those reports can be opened from every profile listed here.

Home Care near Billingshurst

• Pulborough
• Horsham
• Cranleigh