Home Care in Kidderminster

Kidderminster has 12 CQC registered home care agencies. 8 are rated Good, 2 Requires improvement, and 2 have not yet been rated. 9 of the 12 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

What home care in Kidderminster involves and what to look for

How support at home is usually arranged

Home care is delivered as visits, timed around the parts of the day when help is needed most, commonly getting up, meals, medicines and settling at night. Some people need a single short call, others need four a day, and a few need a live in arrangement. The pattern is set out in a care plan, which should be written with the person rather than handed to them. Ask how often that plan is reviewed and who signs it off.

Reading the inspection picture

Seven of the eleven providers listed are rated Good, two are at Requires Improvement and two have not yet been inspected. For home care, read the safe and responsive sections most closely, since late or missed calls and problems with medicines are what most often unsettle a household. Where an agency has been marked down, look at whether the finding concerned records or something touching direct care, and check whether it has been inspected since.

Continuity is the question that matters

Ask how many different care workers would come through the door in a typical week, whether the same people cover weekends, and what happens when someone is off sick. Ask whether visit times are fixed or offered as a window, and ask to see a rota in advance. Ask how visits are recorded and whether relatives living further away can see the notes. For anyone with memory difficulties, a small familiar team makes more difference than any other single factor.

Getting an assessment and working out funding

The assessment of need

Anyone who appears to require care and support can ask for a free assessment, whatever their savings. For support at home the assessment focuses on practical daily tasks and on the hours when help matters most, and it should also consider equipment and small adaptations, which sometimes reduce the number of visits needed. A relative providing regular unpaid care can request a separate carer assessment in their own right.

Who pays for care at home

Where needs are eligible, a financial assessment sets the contribution. Home care is treated differently from a care home place, because the value of the house someone lives in is not counted while care is delivered there. Savings above the national threshold usually mean paying privately, while people below it receive help towards the cost. Assessments and funded packages are arranged through Worcestershire County Council adult social care. Ask about a direct payment if you would rather choose and manage the agency yourself.

How charges are structured

Home care is normally billed by the hour or by the visit, with higher rates at weekends, on bank holidays and overnight. Several short calls a day mount up faster than an hourly rate suggests, so work out the weekly total before comparing agencies. Ask for a written rate card, ask whether travel time is charged, and ask what notice is needed to change or cancel a visit.

Related searches

• Care Homes in Kidderminster
• Nursing Homes in Kidderminster

Home Care near Kidderminster

• Stourport-on-severn
• Stourbridge
• Kingswinford
• Brierley Hill
• Bromsgrove
• Droitwich
• Halesowen