Home Care in Hayes

Hayes has 33 CQC registered home care agencies. 15 are rated Good, and 18 have not yet been rated. 9 of the 33 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Planning and paying for care at home in Hayes

Home care is charged by the hour or by the visit, so the costs are easier to follow than residential fees, but they mount quickly once several calls a day are needed. Working out the funding position early tends to shape how much care a family ends up arranging.

Asking for an assessment

Any adult who appears to need care and support is entitled to an assessment, whatever their savings, and there is no charge for it. It examines personal care, mobility, nutrition, memory, medication and the risks of managing alone, and produces a written record of the support required. London Borough of Hillingdon Adult Social Care is responsible for that assessment and for the financial assessment that decides what public funding contributes. Where support is agreed, ask whether it could come as a direct payment, which normally leaves the choice of agency with the family rather than the council.

What the rates reflect

Providers set their own charges, which vary by the time of day, the length of each call, the skills needed and whether weekends or bank holidays are covered. Ask for the rate in writing, ask what the minimum visit length is and ask whether travel between calls is counted within the time you pay for. Check how a package can be increased at short notice, what notice applies to end it, and whether there is any charge for a visit cancelled on the day. Where the council contributes, confirm whether its rate meets the full charge or leaves a difference for the family to find. Getting that in writing at the start avoids an awkward discussion once the visits have already begun.

Choosing a provider and what to check

With more than half the list awaiting a first inspection, your own questions carry more weight here than a published rating would normally allow.

Continuity and cover

Ask how many different carers would visit over a fortnight, and how the agency keeps that number as low as it can. Ask what happens when a regular carer is on holiday or unwell, how a family is told if a visit will be late, and who answers the telephone outside office hours. Ask how carers are recruited and trained, how long they typically stay and how they are supervised once working alone. The tone of those answers often tells you as much as their content, and a manager who is vague about cover arrangements is rarely better at them in practice.

Working with and without a rating

Where an inspection has taken place, the rating rests on five judgements covering whether a service is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led, and the detail beneath is where the value lies. Check the date as well, since a small agency can change substantially in a year or two. Where no rating exists, ask how long the service has operated, how many people it currently supports and whether it can point you towards an existing family willing to speak. A missing rating is not a black mark, but it does put the checking in your hands.

Related searches

• Care Homes in Hayes
• Nursing Homes in Hayes

Home Care near Hayes

• Southall
• Northolt
• West Drayton
• Uxbridge
• Hounslow
• Ruislip
• Greenford
• Isleworth
• Feltham
• Brentford