Question 1

Can Stoke-on-Trent City Council fund care at home?

Accepted Answer

Stoke-on-Trent City Council can fund all or part of a package of care at home once a care needs assessment and a financial assessment have been completed. What it pays depends on the level of assessed need and on income and capital, with national thresholds applied to savings. Where support is funded, the council pays up to the amount it considers appropriate for those needs. Some families take a direct payment instead and commission the agency themselves.

Question 2

How do I arrange a care needs assessment in Stoke-on-Trent?

Accepted Answer

Contact the adult social care team at Stoke-on-Trent City Council and ask for a care needs assessment, which anyone who appears to need support may request regardless of income. A practitioner will consider what your relative can manage safely at home and what help would make a difference. A financial assessment then establishes whether the council will contribute towards the cost. Ask early, because assessments take time to arrange and the written outcome is useful when briefing an agency.

Question 3

How far ahead should we start looking for home care?

Accepted Answer

Start before the situation becomes urgent, because the busiest times of day are the hardest slots for any agency to fill. Early mornings and teatime tend to be the pinch points, so a few weeks of notice improves your chances of getting the hours you want. If a hospital discharge is setting the pace you may have only days, so ask the hospital social work team for help and treat the first package as something that can be adjusted. A review after the first month is always worth arranging.

Question 4

Which home care agencies in Stoke-on-Trent are listed here?

Accepted Answer

Eighty one providers registered with the Care Quality Commission to deliver care in Stoke-on-Trent appear on this page. They support people in their own homes with tasks such as washing and dressing, medication, meals, shopping and company. You can compare them by rating and open any profile to read the inspection report where one has been published. Coverage differs across the area, so it is worth approaching more than one agency.

Question 5

What should I ask an agency before care starts?

Accepted Answer

Ask who the registered manager is, how long they have been in post, and who answers the telephone outside office hours. Find out how the agency covers absence and how families are told when a visit will be late. Ask to see a sample care plan and how often it is reviewed. Where the agency has been inspected, ask what the report said and what has changed since.

Question 6

What is the difference between a care home and a nursing home?

Accepted Answer

A care home provides accommodation, meals and personal care from a trained staff team, with community nursing called in when clinical needs arise. A nursing home is registered to have a qualified nurse on duty at all times, which suits someone with continuing medical needs. Care at home is the alternative to both and often delays the point at which a move becomes necessary. Where needs are rising, comparing all three at once usually leads to a better decision than taking them one at a time.

Home Care in Stoke-on-Trent

83 home care in Stoke-on-Trent (showing 51–83)