Home Care in Wembley

Wembley has 32 CQC registered home care agencies. 22 are rated Good, 2 Requires improvement, and 8 have not yet been rated. 19 of the 32 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

What care at home in Wembley involves

Support in someone's own house is measured in visits rather than in beds, so the questions that matter are how often carers come, how long they stay and who exactly turns up. With thirty two agencies covering Wembley, the choice is unusually wide and worth narrowing deliberately.

What a registered agency can do

Personal care covers washing, dressing, help to move about safely, prompting or giving medication, preparing meals and support with continence. Many agencies add companionship, shopping and help to reach appointments, and some specialise in dementia or in live in arrangements. Agencies listed here include Krystal Care Services, Nation Home Care, Peepal Care and Trustline Care.

What the ratings do and do not tell you

Twenty two of the agencies hold a rating of Good, two hold Requires Improvement and eight have not yet been rated. An absent rating is not a black mark, since a newly registered agency has simply not had its first inspection, but it does leave you with less published evidence. Where that is the case, ask more searching questions of the office and ask to speak to a current client's family.

The questions that separate agencies

Ask how many different carers will visit over a fortnight and whether the same team works weekends. Ask what happens when a carer calls in sick, how visits are logged, how late a call can run before you are told, and what training staff receive in dementia, medication and moving people safely. The answers vary far more than the marketing does.

Getting assessed and paying for care in Wembley

Who pays and which agency attends are separate decisions, and it is easier to settle the funding question first.

Asking for a care needs assessment

Anyone who appears to need care and support can request an assessment, whatever their means, and no charge is made. A practitioner considers what a person manages alone, what has become difficult and what risk that creates, then records the hours and kind of support required. Get in touch with London Borough of Brent Adult Social Care to begin, and ask for a carer's assessment too where a relative is providing much of the help.

How the cost is worked out

A financial assessment sets income and capital against the national thresholds to decide the council's share and the person's own contribution. Because home care is charged by the hour, the weekly figure follows directly from the number and length of the visits agreed. Ask about direct payments, which allow someone to arrange support themselves instead of accepting an agency selected for them.

Terms to pin down in writing

Confirm the hourly rate, any different charge for evenings, weekends and bank holidays, the shortest visit the agency will provide and the notice needed to change or cancel calls. Check what happens to charges if the person goes into hospital.

Related searches

• Care Homes in Wembley
• Nursing Homes in Wembley

Home Care near Wembley

• Greenford
• Harrow
• Stanmore
• Edgware
• Northolt
• Pinner
• Southall
• Ruislip
• Brentford
• Hayes