How do I arrange a care needs assessment in Godalming?

Contact Surrey County Council and ask for an adult social care assessment, which the person needing care or someone acting for them can request. There is no charge and no need to establish beforehand whether funded support would follow. A carer can ask for a separate assessment of their own needs at the same time, which is worth doing before things reach breaking point. Keep a note of dates and names, particularly where care is being set up around a hospital discharge.

Can Surrey County Council fund home care in Godalming?

It can, where a needs assessment shows support at home is appropriate and a financial assessment shows the person qualifies for help. Savings and income are taken into account, though the value of the house the person lives in is not counted for care delivered at home. Where the council contributes, it may arrange the care itself or offer a direct payment so the family can choose the agency. Where there is no entitlement, the arrangement is private and made directly with the agency.

Which providers in Godalming offer care at home?

Eight home care agencies match this search, among them Wildflower Home Care Ltd, Carers at Home Limited, Home Instead Senior Care Godalming, Helping Hands Godalming and Tender Hands Ltd. All are registered with the Care Quality Commission, with six rated Good and two not yet rated. Each appears on this page with its own profile and inspection history. Coverage varies by area, so check that an agency actually visits your street before going further.

What is the difference between a care home and a nursing home?

A care home provides personal care in a shared setting, covering help with washing, dressing, medicines, meals and daily routine, with staff present through the night. A nursing home offers all of that with a registered nurse on site at all hours, which matters for wound care, feeding tubes and conditions that can change quickly. Home care sits before both, bringing carers to a person's own house for set periods rather than providing continuous cover. Families often begin with visiting care and move on when the gaps between visits stop feeling safe.

How far in advance should I start looking for home care in Godalming?

Home care can often begin within a week or two, which makes it feel less urgent to plan than a move into residential care. Even so, a few weeks of lead time lets you meet more than one agency, compare rates and check availability at the hours you actually need. Early mornings and evenings are the hardest slots to fill, so agencies commit to those first. Where care follows a hospital stay, having a shortlist ready before discharge takes a great deal of pressure out of the week.

What should I ask a home care agency in Godalming before agreeing to care?

Ask how many different carers would visit over a fortnight and whether you will be told in advance who is coming. Ask about training in the things that matter most, whether that is dementia, moving and handling, or medicines. Ask how visits are recorded, how families can see those records, and what notice either side must give to change or end the arrangement. Ask finally to see the most recent Care Quality Commission report and let the manager account for anything inspectors raised.

Home Care in Godalming

Godalming has 8 CQC registered home care agencies. 6 are rated Good, 1 Outstanding, and 1 has not yet been rated. 4 of the 8 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Godalming at a glance

What the local numbers say about home care in Godalming, to help you judge the options below.

Hourly care visits, Surrey: £28.00 to £36.40 an hour. Middle half of prices from 5 agencies.
People aged 75 and over: 17,100. Rising to 20,000 by 2035, up 17%
Living with dementia, aged 65 and over (estimate): 2,300. Rising to 2,900 by 2035, up 27%
People aged 85 and over: 5,200. Rising to 7,900 by 2035, up 51%
Dementia diagnosis rate: 65%. The NHS ambition is 67%. Surrey as a whole is 68%.
Agencies in the borough, last 12 months: 1 opened, 0 closed. 29 registered today.
Choice of agencies: 91 within 10 miles. In a typical neighbourhood. The nearest is under a mile away (0.7 miles).

Powered by Orrery Intelligence. Market model built 22 October 2026 (ONS 2022 based population projections, CQC register), published care home prices, council planning records.

Arranging and Funding Home Care in Godalming

Support at home is usually bought gradually, beginning with a single morning call and growing as needs do. Because it builds that way, families often work out the funding rules only once several hours a week are already in place. A care needs assessment brings some order to that, and it is free, open to anyone who appears to need support, and independent of what anyone can afford.

Getting a Care Needs Assessment

Surrey County Council is the authority responsible for carrying out that assessment and for arranging funded support where a person is eligible. An assessor looks at washing, dressing, medicines, meals, mobility and risk, then sets out how much support would meet those needs and how often it should come. Where a relative is already providing care, they can ask for an assessment of their own needs alongside it, which is worth doing before things reach breaking point. The written outcome makes every later conversation with an agency far more precise.

What Home Care Costs and Who Pays

Agencies charge by the hour or by the visit, and rates rise for evenings, weekends and bank holidays. A financial assessment decides whether the council contributes, taking savings and income into account, and support at home is treated differently from residential care in that the value of the person's own house is disregarded. Some families take a direct payment and arrange the care themselves, which brings flexibility along with the work of managing it. Whichever route you take, ask for the rate in writing, check the minimum visit length, and ask what notice either side must give.

Choosing a Home Care Agency in Godalming and What to Look For

What the Ratings Show and Where They Stop

Wildflower Home Care Ltd, Carers at Home Limited, Home Instead Senior Care Godalming, Helping Hands Godalming and Tender Hands Ltd are among those rated Good, awarded on findings about safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness and leadership. Two agencies, including Guardian Angel Carers serving Godalming and Guildford, have not yet been rated. An absent rating is not a warning, but it does mean there is no published verdict to lean on, so judge those agencies on how precisely they answer questions about staffing, training and supervision.

Questions That Separate Good Agencies From Poor Ones

Ask how many different carers would come over a typical fortnight, because continuity is what people notice most and what agencies find hardest to promise. Ask what happens when a carer is ill, how late a visit can run before you are told, and whether times are fixed or given as a window. Ask who supervises the carers, how often a manager visits the house, and how a complaint is handled once it has been made. Ask too how visits are recorded and whether the family can see those records, since that is often the only reliable window into what happens between calls. Ask finally how long the manager has been in post, because a settled office usually means settled rotas and fewer unfamiliar faces.

8 home care in Godalming

Tender Hands · Godalming, Surrey · CQC Good
Guardian Angel Carers and Guildford · Godalming, Surrey
Wildflower Home Care · Godalming, Surrey · CQC Good
Carers at Home · Godalming, Surrey · CQC Good
Helping Hands · Godalming, Surrey · CQC Good
Home Instead Senior Care · Godalming, Surrey · CQC Good
Radfield Home Care Guildford & Woking · Godalming, Surrey · CQC Outstanding
CHD Care at Home South West · Godalming, Surrey · CQC Good

What home care costs

Type of care	What it costs
Hourly care visits, Surrey Middle half of prices from 5 agencies. Median £36.00.	£28.00 to £36.40 an hour
What Surrey pays Average hourly rate, October 2026.	£24.87 an hour
Homecare Association minimum price 2026 to 2027. The Association's estimate of the lowest price that covers the cost of delivering care. It is not a legal minimum.	£34.42 an hour
Live in care, England Middle half of prices from 62 agencies. Median £1,455.	£1,250 to £1,668 a week

Published prices come from agencies that publish rates, so treat them as a guide. Ask the agency for its own price. Powered by Orrery Intelligence.

Inspected most recently

Radfield Home Care Guildford & Woking, 11 September 2026, Outstanding
Home Instead Senior Care Godalming, 21 July 2026, Good
Wildflower Home Care Ltd, 23 April 2026, Good

Longest since a report

Helping Hands Godalming, 12 July 2018, Good
Tender Hands Ltd, 21 March 2019, Good
Carers at Home Limited, 24 September 2019, Good

Frequently asked questions about home care in Godalming

How many home care agencies are there in Godalming?

Godalming has 8 CQC registered home care agencies: 1 Outstanding, 6 Good, 1 not yet rated. Counts come from the CQC register and are kept up to date as ratings change.

How much does home care cost in Godalming?

Hourly care visits, Surrey: £28.00 to £36.40 an hour. Middle half of prices from 5 agencies. Median £36.00. Published prices come from agencies that publish rates, so treat them as a guide. Ask the agency for its own price.

Which home care agencies in Godalming were inspected most recently?

Radfield Home Care Guildford & Woking (11 September 2026), Home Instead Senior Care Godalming (21 July 2026) and Wildflower Home Care Ltd (23 April 2026) have the most recent CQC reports.

Local care news in Surrey

New 30 bed care home registered with CQC in Waverley: Bridge House Care Home (5 November 2026)
CQC register adds a new care home in Waverley: Cedar Court Care Home (5 November 2026)

More local care news for Surrey