Home Care in Longfield

Longfield 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.

Planning and paying for support at home in Longfield

Families often telephone agencies first and deal with the council later, which is the wrong way round whenever funding might be involved. An independent record of what is actually needed makes every subsequent conversation easier, including the ones with providers you intend to pay yourself. It is worth a fortnight's delay at the start to avoid months of adjusting afterwards.

The care needs assessment

A care needs assessment is free and open to anyone who appears to need care and support, whatever their income or savings. The Kent County Council adult social care team is responsible for carrying out that assessment and for arranging funded support where the national eligibility criteria are met. An assessor will look at washing and dressing, meals, medication, mobility, continence and the risks of managing alone, then confirm which needs are eligible. Where a relative is already helping, they can request a carer's assessment of their own, and both written outcomes are worth keeping to hand.

Rates, the means test and the written terms

Care at home is means tested, so a financial assessment sets what the person contributes from capital and income, and anyone above the threshold arranges and pays for the support themselves. Ask for the complete rate card rather than a single figure, since weekends, bank holidays and shorter calls are often charged at higher rates, and travel or mileage is sometimes billed on top. Then read the written terms properly: look for the minimum number of hours, the notice period on either side, and what happens if you want to change agency. Ask how much notice you would get of a price rise, because that clause is easy to miss and expensive to discover later.

Choosing a provider and what to check

With two of the three uninspected, the usual shortcut of comparing ratings is not available, so the questions you ask will have to do the work instead.

Checking an agency without a published rating

Ask when the agency registered and how long the manager has been in post, since an experienced manager running a new service is a different proposition from a new manager running one. Ask to see the training records for the staff who would actually visit, and how supervision and spot checks are carried out in practice. Ask for two families already using the service who would be willing to speak to you, and note how readily that is offered. Ask as well whether the registered manager would be the person you deal with day to day, because in a small agency that often makes the difference.

Continuity and what happens when a carer leaves

The question that matters most over time is how many different people would come in a typical fortnight. Ask what happens when a regular worker leaves altogether, how a replacement is introduced, and whether anyone overlaps with them on a first visit. Ask who answers the telephone at seven in the evening or on a Sunday, how late a visit has to be before someone contacts you, and what the procedure is for a missed call. Ask finally whether the first fortnight gets a formal review, as a provider that expects to adjust the package is more realistic than one that assumes it got it right straight away.

Home Care near Longfield

• Swanscombe
• Gravesend
• Gillingham
• Dartford
• Swanley
• Tilbury
• Grays
• South Ockendon
• Sevenoaks
• Bexleyheath