Home Care in High Wycombe

High Wycombe has 35 CQC registered home care agencies. 11 are rated Good, 1 Outstanding, 2 Requires improvement, and 21 have not yet been rated. 12 of the 35 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

What care at home in High Wycombe involves and what to look for

Home care covers a wider span than most people expect. At one end it is a single morning call to help someone wash, dress and take their medication; at the other it is four visits a day, or two workers attending together where moving and handling requires it. Thirty five agencies are registered to deliver that care in High Wycombe, and the practical differences between them lie in which hours they can reliably staff and which parts of the town they actually cover.

Weighing up the inspection evidence

Every agency listed here is registered with the Care Quality Commission, but a large share has not yet been inspected. One holds an Outstanding rating, twelve are rated Good, one has been rated Requires Improvement, and twenty one carry no published rating. Where a report exists, look past the overall grade to what inspectors said about punctuality, medication handling and staff turnover, because those determine what daily life feels like. Where an agency has not been inspected, ask how long the management team has worked in care, how staff are recruited, trained and supervised, and whether you can speak to an existing client or their family.

The questions that separate one agency from another

Ask how many different care workers would normally attend, since continuity matters more to most people than anything else. Ask what happens when a regular worker is unwell, at what point the office telephones if a call is running late, and whether the agency genuinely has staff free in your area. Check that the care plan will be written with the person receiving support rather than handed to them, and that it will be reviewed at agreed intervals. Ask too whether hours can be increased if needs grow. Agencies including High Wycombe Supported Living, Optima Homecare Group, Care Resource Bureau and St James Court each have a profile here setting out registration and inspection details.

Getting an assessment and sorting out the funding

The care needs assessment

A free care needs assessment is available to anyone who appears to need care and support, whatever their savings. Buckinghamshire Council carries out that assessment for people living in High Wycombe, and also completes the financial assessment that determines what a person contributes towards the cost. A practitioner will look at washing, dressing, medication, meals, mobility and how safely someone manages between visits, then record in writing how many calls are needed and how long each should last. That document is worth having even where a family expects to pay privately, because it gives every agency the same clear brief to quote against.

What care at home costs

Agencies charge by the hour or by the visit, with higher rates in the evenings, at weekends and on bank holidays, so ask for a complete price list rather than a headline figure. Establish the shortest visit an agency will accept, whether travel time appears on the invoice, and what notice is needed to change or cancel calls. If the financial assessment concludes that someone must meet the whole cost, the local authority still offers advice on arranging care and on what a contract should contain. Where support is funded, the personal budget can often be taken as a direct payment, which lets a family appoint the agency it prefers rather than accept whichever provider is allocated.

Related searches

• Care Homes in High Wycombe
• Nursing Homes in High Wycombe

Home Care near High Wycombe

• Beaconsfield
• Amersham
• Maidenhead
• Chesham
• Gerrards Cross
• Henley-on-thames