Home Care in Sandwich

Sandwich has 3 CQC registered home care agencies. 1 is rated Good, 1 Requires improvement, and 1 has not yet been rated. 2 of the 3 were last inspected more than three years ago.

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

What Home Care in Sandwich Involves and What to Look For

Care bought by the visit

Home care is arranged as a set of visits, which makes the detail of each visit the thing to examine. Ask how long a call actually lasts, how many carers would come in a week and whether the same small team can be promised rather than whoever is free. Ask what happens when a carer is ill or caught in traffic, how a missed visit is picked up and who answers the telephone at night or at a weekend. Ask how the care plan is written and reviewed, who updates it when something changes, and how medicines, meals and personal care are recorded at each call. If needs are likely to grow, ask whether the agency can increase visits or provide live in support later.

Weighing the three records

Aspire Home Carers (Ramsgate) Ltd holds a Good rating from the Care Quality Commission, Livingstone Care Office - Innovation House is rated Requires Improvement, and Thrive Together Social Care has no published rating yet. Read the reports rather than the ratings alone: where improvement was asked for, the report names the shortfalls and the provider may already have acted, and where no rating exists you will need to ask when the agency registered and how it checks its own standards. Ask any agency how it supervises carers in people's homes, since that is where the quality of visiting care is decided.

Getting an Assessment and Funding Care at Home

Asking for a care needs assessment

Anyone who may need support at home can ask for an assessment of need, free of charge and whatever their savings. It records how someone manages washing, dressing, medication, meals, mobility and safety, and it forms the basis of any funded support. Requests go to Kent County Council Adult Social Care, which carries out the assessment and arranges the financial assessment that follows. If you provide the care yourself, ask for a carer's assessment at the same time, since it considers the help you need in order to keep going.

What home care costs

Visiting care is usually charged by the hour or by the visit, with higher rates at weekends and on bank holidays, and some agencies set a minimum call length. Where the financial assessment shows capital below the national threshold, the council may fund an agreed package, either by arranging it or through a direct payment that lets the person choose their own agency. Above that threshold, care is paid for privately. Ask for the rates in writing, with any travel charges, notice periods and the terms for changing or cancelling visits.

Home Care near Sandwich

• Ramsgate
• Deal
• Broadstairs
• Margate
• Dover
• Canterbury