Home Care in Hinckley

Hinckley has 20 CQC registered home care agencies. 12 are rated Good, 2 Requires improvement, and 6 have not yet been rated. 10 of the 20 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

What home care in Hinckley involves and what to look for

Support that comes to the person

Home care is bought as visits rather than as a place to live, which means the house, the neighbours and the daily routine all stay as they are. A package often starts with help to get up and dressed, then grows to take in meals, medication prompts, shopping and company. Because it is arranged visit by visit, it can be increased or scaled back as things change, without anyone having to move. That flexibility is the main reason a great many families look at care at home before considering anything else.

Reading a long list of ratings

With a range of agencies this size, the inspection judgements are the fastest way to sort them. Twelve are rated Good, among them Heroic Care Ltd, Homepeace Ltd, Charnwood Supported Living Service, Everyday Living Care Leicestershire and Kingfisher Care (Midlands) Ltd. Universal Care Services Hinckley is rated Requires Improvement, and Continuity Health Care Services PVT Limited is rated Inadequate, which is the most serious judgement inspectors give and one that warrants reading the report in full before going further. Five agencies, including Polus Care, Eaglesvale Care and Arko Care Limited, have not yet been rated, so there is no inspection judgement to weigh and other evidence matters more.

The questions that tell you most

Ask how the agency covers visits when a regular carer is ill or on leave, and whether the same small team attends week to week. Ask about the minimum visit length, whether travel time is charged, and what the rate is at weekends and on bank holidays. Ask who answers the telephone in the evening, how quickly a missed visit is noticed, and how complaints are handled. Ask what training staff hold for the particular needs involved, whether that is dementia, moving and handling, or medication support.

Getting an assessment and arranging funding in Hinckley

The care needs assessment

Anyone who appears to need support may ask for an assessment of their needs, free of charge and regardless of savings. Leicestershire County Council Adult Social Care carries it out, looking at daily routines, mobility, health and the help already in place, and records the outcome in writing. Asking for one is worthwhile even where a family expects to pay privately, because the written record is useful when approaching any agency and because circumstances rarely stay the same for long.

How the cost is worked out

Care at home is charged by the hour or by the visit, so the weekly figure follows from how much help is needed rather than from a single fixed fee. Where the assessment identifies eligible needs, a financial assessment decides what the council contributes and what the individual pays from income and capital. Direct payments are worth asking about, since they let some people arrange and manage their own support. Ask each agency for written rates, the notice required to change visits, and whether the price differs when two carers are needed.

Related searches

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Home Care near Hinckley

• Nuneaton
• Bedworth
• Atherstone