Which agencies provide home care in Highbridge?

Three agencies registered with the Care Quality Commission are listed for Highbridge. They are Select Homecare Direct, Select Support and J and C Healthcare. Only the first currently holds a published rating, which is Good. Each has its own profile on Care Assura showing its registration, and with a list this short it is worth reading all three.

What should I ask when I meet a home care agency?

Ask who would actually be visiting, how large the team would be, and whether you are told in advance when the regular carer is away. Request a copy of the care plan template and ask how often the plan is reviewed and who signs it off. Find out how missed or late visits are recorded and escalated, and ask for the complaints procedure in writing. Where an agency has no published rating, ask what references or feedback it can show you instead.

How does home care differ from a care home?

Home care brings support to the person through planned visits, so they stay in their own home and keep their own routine. A care home provides accommodation with personal care, meaning staff are on hand through the day and night but a move is required. A nursing home goes further still, holding a registration that requires qualified nurses on site for clinical needs. Families often start with home care and consider a move only when visits no longer cover what is needed.

Will Somerset Council pay towards home care?

It may, where the care needs assessment finds eligible needs and the financial assessment shows capital below the national threshold. Most people contribute something from income such as pensions, and the amount is calculated individually. If the council does fund support, you can ask for a direct payment and choose the agency yourself rather than accepting the one offered. Request both assessments early, because arranging them takes time.

How do I arrange a care needs assessment in Highbridge?

Contact the adult social care team at Somerset Council, which has a legal duty to assess anyone who appears to need care and support whatever their financial position. The request can come from the person themselves, from a relative, or from a professional such as a general practitioner or hospital discharge coordinator. An assessor will discuss daily tasks, health, risks around the home and the help already being provided, then explain which needs are eligible. Ask for the outcome and the support plan in writing, as both are useful when you approach agencies.

How soon should we start looking for home care?

Start as soon as managing at home begins to feel precarious, rather than waiting for a fall or a hospital admission to force the issue. Allowing a few weeks gives time to meet agencies, read any inspection reports and get the council assessments moving without pressure. Agencies sometimes have no immediate capacity in a particular area or at a particular time of day, so early enquiries help. If the need is urgent, say so when you ring, since some agencies keep capacity for short notice packages.

Home Care in Highbridge

Highbridge has 3 CQC registered home care agencies. 1 is rated Good, and 2 have not yet been rated. 1 of the 3 was last inspected more than three years ago.

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

What home care in Highbridge involves and what to look for

What you are really buying with home care is reliability: the right person arriving when they said they would, knowing what needs doing. The three providers listed for Highbridge are all registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide personal care to people in their own homes, which means the house, the neighbours and the daily routine all stay as they are. Price matters less to most families than consistency.

Questions that separate one agency from another

Ask how large the visiting team would be across a fortnight, because a small and consistent group is easier to live with than a changing cast. Find out the shortest visit the agency will accept, what happens when a carer is ill or delayed, and at what point somebody telephones to explain. Check whether staff are trained in the specific things that matter in your household, such as dementia, moving and handling, or catheter care, and ask how that training is kept current. Ask too how long carers tend to stay, since turnover shapes everything else.

Making sense of the inspection picture

Select Homecare Direct holds a Good rating, so its report is worth reading in full for what inspectors recorded about timekeeping and record keeping. Select Support and J and C Healthcare have no published rating yet. Where that is the case, the absence is not a criticism, but it does mean there is no independent assessment to lean on, so ask the agency directly when it registered, whether an inspection has been scheduled, and what references it can offer. Check the date on any report you do find, because an agency can change considerably between visits.

Getting an assessment and arranging the funding

The care needs assessment

A free care needs assessment is the sensible first step, and anyone who appears to need care and support has a right to one whatever their savings. The duty rests with Somerset Council adult social care, which decides what help is required, whether the eligibility criteria are met, and what funded support should follow. A financial assessment runs alongside to establish who pays what, and a relative providing regular unpaid care can claim a carer's assessment of their own.

How the cost works

Agencies charge by the hour or by the visit, with higher rates at weekends and overnight, so ask for the full schedule in writing before committing. Where capital falls below the national threshold the council may fund some or all of the support, and a direct payment lets you commission the agency yourself. Above that threshold, care is arranged privately.

3 home care in Highbridge

Select Homecare Direct · Highbridge, Somerset · CQC Good
Select Support + · Highbridge, Somerset
J & C Healthcare · Highbridge, Somerset

What home care costs

Type of care	What it costs
Hourly care visits, South West Middle half of prices from 10 agencies. Median £32.96.	£28.75 to £34.94 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

Select Support +, 14 February 2025, Not yet rated
Select Homecare Direct, 31 December 2019, Good

Longest since a report

Select Homecare Direct, 31 December 2019, Good
Select Support +, 14 February 2025, Not yet rated

Frequently asked questions about home care in Highbridge

How many home care agencies are there in Highbridge?

Highbridge has 3 CQC registered home care agencies: 1 Good, 2 not yet rated. Counts come from the CQC register and are kept up to date as ratings change.

Which home care agencies in Highbridge were inspected most recently?

Select Support + (14 February 2025) and Select Homecare Direct (31 December 2019) have the most recent CQC reports.

Local care news in Somerset

New 20 bed care home registered with CQC in Somerset: St Georges Care Home (5 November 2026)

More local care news for Somerset