Home care
What is home care?
We arrange help for you at home if you are finding it difficult to manage on your own. Home carers may give you personal care, for example, help with washing and dressing. They may also do practical things for you, such as collecting pensions, shopping, preparing food, and doing laundry and cleaning. Home carers also support people who help look after a relative or friend at home.
Your home-care service is normally provided by our approved independent providers, who are also monitored by the Commission for Social Care Inspection. Our own home-care staff may given you personal care, particularly if you need home care after leaving hospital, or if having home care would prevent you from going into hospital. We work closely with our colleagues in the health service to provide this kind of home care.
Who is it for?
Home care is available to older people and adults with a mental health problem or physical, sensory or learning disability. It can help you stay safely in your own home on a long term basis, or if you are recovering from an illness or leaving hospital.
We also support carers who help look after a relative or friend at home. If a carer is at risk from stress or health problems for example, we can provide home care for the person they look after.
Will I qualify for home-care services?
We may offer you home-care services if you have no-one to help you and, because of a physical or mental disability, you:
- are housebound (cannot leave the house)
- cannot get shopping or prepare meals
- are in danger because you cannot feed yourself
- cannot wash or dress yourself or look after other personal needs;
- find it difficult to move around your home to do essential tasks; and
- you cannot carry out essential tasks outside the home, such as getting your pension.
If you need somebody to do your housework or shopping, we will usually arrange for an independent provider from a private or voluntary home care service.
How much will it cost?
We will ask you to pay for or contribute towards the cost of home care, whether our staff provide the service or we arrange for an independent provider. The amount you pay depends on how much you can afford. We will make a financial assessment to decide how much you need to pay. Further information is available about paying for services.
Can a home carer give medication?
Adult Social Care staff and staff from private agencies aim to assist service users to maintain responsibility in administering their own medication.
Decisions concerning an individual’s capacity and ability to administer their own medication are made with that person, their carer/relative and other health professionals such as a district nurse.
Administration of medication is only undertaken by staff who have had the appropriate training.
How can I apply?
To apply for a home care service you first need to receive a community care assessment which looks at your needs, please contact the home care team.
The money available limits the services that we can offer, and we cannot meet everyone’s needs all the time. Some people will have more important needs than others and the assessment process helps us find out whose needs are greatest. Find out more about completing the assessment process.
Help around the home
For details of how you can find people to help with maintaining your garden or cleaning windows, finding mobile hairdressers and shops that deliver, see our page on help around the home.
