Home Care in Wallington

Wallington has 13 CQC registered home care agencies. 10 are rated Good, and 3 have not yet been rated. 4 of the 13 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

What home care in Wallington involves and what to look for

Support at home is measured in visits, and the shape of those visits is what you are really choosing between. A package may be a single morning call to help someone wash and dress, several calls spread through the day to cover meals and medication, or a live in arrangement where a carer stays in the house. Deciding how many visits are needed, and at which hours, is the first practical step, because it determines the cost and narrows the field to agencies that can actually cover that round.

Continuity is what families notice

The two complaints heard most often about home care are lateness and a constant change of faces. Ask each agency how many different carers someone is likely to see across a fortnight, how the rota is built, and what happens when a regular carer is unwell or on leave. Ask whether anyone telephones if a visit is running late. A marginally higher hourly rate frequently buys a steadier rota, and that stability matters more to most people than anything else.

What the inspection record shows

Ten of the agencies here hold a Good rating, which makes the local picture a settled one, and those reports repay reading because they describe how an agency manages medication, timekeeping, training and complaints. Three agencies have no published rating, which normally means the Care Quality Commission has not yet carried out a first inspection since registration. That is not in itself a reason to rule them out, though it does mean you will need to ask more questions directly and take up references where you can.

Getting an assessment and arranging funding

Care at home can be paid for privately or funded following an assessment, and establishing which applies at the outset makes everything that follows simpler.

The care needs assessment

Anyone who appears to need care and support can ask for an assessment, and there is no charge whatever someone owns or earns. It looks at washing, dressing, mobility, medication, nutrition and how safely someone manages alone, and ends in a written record of the support required. The London Borough of Sutton carries out that assessment and the financial assessment that decides who pays. Where you provide care yourself, ask for a carer's assessment at the same time, because your own needs are considered separately.

What it is likely to cost

Agencies charge an hourly rate as a rule, with higher rates at weekends, on bank holidays and where two carers are needed for a safe transfer. Live in care is priced by the week instead. Where funded support applies, the council may meet part or all of the cost, often as a direct payment so that you can choose the agency yourself. Ask for the rate card in writing, ask about minimum visit lengths, and ask whether travel time between calls is charged, since brief visits can prove expensive once those extras are added. Ask too what notice is required to change or cancel a call, and whether the hourly rate alters if the number of visits each week increases.

Related searches

• Care Homes in Wallington
• Nursing Homes in Wallington

Home Care near Wallington

• Carshalton
• Sutton
• South Croydon
• Croydon
• Mitcham
• Coulsdon
• Thornton Heath
• Morden
• Worcester Park
• Epsom