Home Care in Reading

Reading has 65 CQC registered home care agencies. 23 are rated Good, 8 Requires improvement, and 34 have not yet been rated. 27 of the 65 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Arranging and funding care at home in Reading

Paid support usually follows an ordinary problem rather than a dramatic one. Mornings have become a struggle, tablets are going untaken, or the relative who has quietly been covering the gap can no longer do so alongside work. Whoever ends up delivering the visits, the way into funded support follows the same two stages, and taking them in order avoids a great deal of doubling back.

Asking for a care needs assessment

Adult social care at Reading Borough Council Adult Social Care must assess anyone who appears to need care and support, at no charge and without any savings test. A practitioner works through washing, dressing, meals, medication, continence, mobility and the risks of leaving those needs unmet, along with what family are already providing unpaid. The result is a written record of eligible needs and a support plan describing how many visits are required, at what times and for what purpose. Relatives giving regular care can request an assessment of their own needs at the same time, which is easy to overlook and often useful.

Working out the cost

The financial assessment is separate and measures capital and income against limits set nationally. Above the upper capital limit a person arranges and pays for their own care; below it the council contributes while the person pays an assessed amount and keeps a protected sum for living costs. Funded support can be commissioned by the council or taken as a direct payment, which puts the choice of agency and the shape of the visits in the person's own hands. Agency rates are quoted hourly and change with early mornings, evenings, weekends and bank holidays, so compare written schedules rather than headline figures. Where the need is essentially clinical, ask the assessing team whether NHS continuing healthcare should be considered.

Choosing the right home care agency in Reading

With sixty five providers listed and grades published for fewer than half, the aim is a shortlist of three or four that can genuinely staff the times of day when help is needed.

Making the most of the published evidence

Twenty two agencies here are rated Good, which is the group to start with if a published judgement matters to you. Nine carry a Requires Improvement rating, and those reports should be opened rather than used as a simple filter, because the concern may be governance or may be something people receiving visits notice every day. Thirty four agencies have no rating yet, so for them the enquiry shifts to how long the service has run locally, who the registered manager is and what they did previously. Check inspection dates as well as grades, since agencies can change character quickly when management changes.

Questions worth asking before anything is signed

Ask how many different carers a person sees across a fortnight, because continuity affects wellbeing more than any promotional material. Find out the shortest visit accepted, how arrival times are agreed and what happens when the regular carer is unwell. Check what training staff hold for the conditions involved and how medication is recorded at each call. Ask who answers the telephone out of hours, how often the care plan is reviewed and what notice each side must give.

Related searches

• Care Homes in Reading
• Nursing Homes in Reading

Home Care near Reading

• Henley-on-thames
• Wokingham
• Crowthorne