Home Care in Bury

Bury has 52 CQC registered home care agencies. 31 are rated Good, 1 Outstanding, 2 Requires improvement, and 18 have not yet been rated. 27 of the 52 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Arranging Home Care in Bury and Paying for It

Care at home is charged by time, which means the care plan and the budget are effectively one document. Working out how many visits are needed and at which hours settles most of the cost before an agency is ever contacted, and that is the right order to do it in.

Requesting a care needs assessment

The assessment is free, it is not means tested, and anyone who appears to need care can request one, as can a relative acting on their behalf. It considers washing, dressing, preparing meals, managing medication and moving safely about the house, then records what help is needed and at which points in the day. Bury Metropolitan Borough Council adult social care is the authority responsible for carrying out that assessment and for deciding what funded support follows from it. Ask for the written outcome, since an agency can quote against it far more accurately than against a description over the telephone.

What can be claimed towards the cost

A financial assessment then looks at savings and income. For care at home the value of a property the person still lives in is disregarded, which is why support in the house is often affordable where residential fees are not. Below the national upper capital threshold the council contributes through a personal budget, which can be taken as a direct payment so the family engages the agency itself. Attendance Allowance sits outside the means test and is worth claiming at the same time.

Reading a rate card properly

Agencies price by visit length, so several short calls can cost more than fewer longer ones while giving less useful time. Ask for written rates covering weekdays, weekends and bank holidays, check whether travel or mileage is billed, and establish what notice is needed to change a package and how a missed visit shows up on the invoice.

Choosing the Right Home Care Agency in Bury

What the ratings do and do not cover

One agency, The Focus Foundation, holds Outstanding. Thirty are rated Good, including Bury Home Care, Platinum Care, Care Connect Bury Ltd, KV Care Limited and Right Care. Two have been told they Require Improvement. Nineteen have never been rated, which reflects recent registration rather than anything concealed, but it does mean there is no independent view of them yet. Where a report exists, read it and check its date rather than stopping at the rating itself.

Reliability is the real test

Ask how many different carers would attend over a fortnight and what happens when one is off sick. Ask whether visits are timed around the person or around the round, what the agency counts as a late call, and who telephones the family when one occurs. Ask how medication is recorded and how a missed visit is picked up on the day rather than weeks later.

Questions for an unrated agency

Ask when it registered, how long the registered manager has worked in care, and how staff are recruited, trained and supervised. Ask whether you may speak to a family already using them. An agency running well will make that easy rather than awkward.

Related searches

• Care Homes in Bury
• Nursing Homes in Bury

Home Care near Bury

• Heywood
• Rochdale
• Bolton
• Rossendale
• Salford
• Eccles
• Manchester
• Oldham