Home Care in Eastbourne

Eastbourne has 32 CQC registered home care agencies. 18 are rated Good, 2 Requires improvement, and 12 have not yet been rated. 15 of the 32 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Arranging and funding care at home in Eastbourne

Two questions decide what a care package actually looks like: what someone needs, and who pays for it. Families often reach the second only after they have chosen an agency, which is the wrong way round, because the hours a council will fund narrow the field among the thirty two providers listed here. Both assessments can run while you are still making enquiries.

Asking for a care needs assessment

Anyone who appears to need care and support can ask for a care needs assessment, free of charge and whatever their income or savings. East Sussex County Council is responsible for carrying out that assessment for people living in Eastbourne and for deciding which needs are eligible for funded support. The assessor looks at washing, dressing, meals, medication, mobility and safety at home, and asks what the person wants their day to look like, before recording the eligible needs in writing. Keep that record, because the hours and tasks in any package are drawn from it, and an unpaid carer can ask for a separate carer's assessment of their own.

The cost of care at home

A financial assessment then takes account of income, savings and property to establish the person's contribution. Where the council funds a package, it pays up to the rate it has set for the assessed level of need, and anyone arranging care privately contracts with the agency directly. Agencies covering Eastbourne generally charge by the hour, often at a higher rate for evenings, weekends and bank holidays, with shorter calls sometimes subject to a minimum charge. Ask for rates in writing, along with whether travel time is charged, what happens if a visit overruns, and the notice required to change or cancel a call.

Choosing a home care agency in Eastbourne and what to check

What matters with home care is not premises but people: who arrives, how often it is the same person, and what happens when that person cannot come. Coverage is the first filter, since an agency unable to reach an address reliably at seven in the morning is not a real option however well it is regarded.

Reading the inspection evidence

Every agency here is registered with the Care Quality Commission. Eighteen are rated Good, among them Curant Care, Right at Home Eastbourne, Trinity Homecare, AQS Homecare Sussex, Nightingale Homecare East Sussex Ltd, Delore Care Eastbourne, Helping Hands Eastbourne and Agincare UK Eastbourne. One is currently rated Requires Improvement. Thirteen have not yet been rated, which in domiciliary care commonly reflects a recent registration. A rating condenses five separate judgements about safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness and leadership, and the report tells you which of them carried the verdict, whether that concerned late calls, medication records or staff supervision.

The questions worth asking

Ask how many different carers would visit across a fortnight and whether you are told in advance who is coming. Ask what the agency does when a carer is off sick and how quickly cover is found. Ask how late a visit can run before someone rings you, how medication is recorded, and how a complaint is dealt with. Where no inspection report exists yet, ask how carers are recruited, what training they complete before a first visit, how they are supervised, and whether you can speak to an existing client.

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