Home Care in Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury has 4 CQC registered home care agencies. 2 are rated Good, and 2 have not yet been rated. 2 of the 4 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

Choosing between the home care agencies in Tewkesbury

Four providers is a narrow field, and a narrow field rewards putting the same set of awkward questions to each of them. It also makes it worth checking which agencies based slightly further out will travel, since the published list reflects registered addresses rather than the limit of anyone's reach. Either way, the comparison turns on reliability rather than on how an agency presents itself.

Two rated, two not yet

For the two providers holding a Good rating, open the report and compare the assessed areas individually, noting how recently the inspection took place and whether the management has changed since. For the two without a published rating, an absent judgement is not a poor one; ask when the agency registered, whether a first inspection has been scheduled, who owns and manages it, and what training carers complete before working alone. NSF Health and La Vie En Rose are among those listed below, each with the published detail on its own profile.

Questions that predict whether an arrangement holds

Ask how many different carers would come in a fortnight and whether a regular one is realistic at the hours you want. Ask what happens when a carer is off sick, how late a visit can run before anyone is told, and who rings the family when a call is missed. Find out who writes the support plan, how often it is reviewed, and whether the person receiving care takes part in writing it. Then ask what the agency would decline to do, because that boundary is more revealing than the list of what it offers.

Arranging care at home in Tewkesbury and meeting the cost

Requesting an assessment

Anyone who appears to need care and support has a right to have those needs assessed, whatever their finances. For people living in Tewkesbury this runs through Gloucestershire County Council, which is responsible for adult social care assessment and for funded support. The assessment looks at washing and dressing, medication, meals, mobility around the house and the help already being provided unpaid by family. A carer can request an assessment in their own name as well, and asking for both together usually saves a round of telephone calls.

What the hours add up to

Each agency sets its own hourly rate, with higher charges for evenings, weekends and bank holidays, so ask for the written schedule of charges. Check the minimum visit length, whether travel time is taken out of the time booked, and how a shortened or missed call is treated on the invoice. Where the council contributes after its financial assessment, it may commission the hours itself or offer a direct payment so the family chooses the agency directly. Ask which route would apply, because it changes who holds the arrangement together.

Related searches

• Care Homes in Tewkesbury

Home Care near Tewkesbury

• Cheltenham