Which home care agencies work in Wingate?

Three registered agencies cover the Wingate area: Tender Glove Healthcare, Adada Care Services (Durham) and Brisca Healthcare. Each one has a profile on Care Assura setting out its registration details and any inspection history. The list follows current Care Quality Commission registration data for this area and for care delivered at home. Comparing the profiles is the quickest way to see where the published evidence is strongest.

What is the difference between care at home, a care home and a nursing home?

Home care brings trained carers to your relative's own address at agreed times, so they stay in familiar surroundings. A residential care home offers a permanent room with meals and personal care available throughout the day and night. A nursing home provides all of that plus registered nurses on site at all hours for people with clinical needs. Families often use home care first and consider a move only when needs become too frequent to meet in scheduled visits.

What should I ask an agency before signing anything?

Ask how many carers would attend, whether you can keep the same small team, and how sickness and holidays are covered. Check the hourly rate, weekend and bank holiday charges, minimum call lengths and the notice period for changing visits. Find out who answers out of hours, how families are told about late calls, and how often the care plan is reviewed. Where an agency has no inspection rating yet, ask to speak to families already using it.

How do I arrange a care needs assessment in Wingate?

Contact Durham County Council and request an adult social care needs assessment, which you can ask for on a relative's behalf with their agreement. A general practitioner, district nurse or hospital discharge team can also make the referral, which is often faster when someone is already being seen. The assessor considers washing, dressing, meals, medication, mobility and safety, and records the needs that qualify for support. The financial side is assessed afterwards.

Can Durham County Council help pay for home care?

It can, where the needs assessment identifies eligible needs and the financial assessment shows capital and income below the national limits. Help may come as care the council arranges or as a direct payment you use to commission an agency yourself. Some families pay in full and still make use of the council's advice on choosing a provider. Ask Durham County Council to confirm in writing how any contribution has been calculated before a package starts.

How far ahead should we be looking?

Sorting it out before a crisis gives far more choice than arranging care from a hospital ward. A few weeks of lead time allows you to compare rates, read what inspection evidence exists and give your relative time to accept the idea. Early morning calls are the hardest slots to fill, so flexibility over timing can widen the options. Starting with a small package and building it up tends to work better than a sudden change.

Home Care in Wingate

Wingate has 3 CQC registered home care agencies. 1 is rated Good, and 2 have not yet been rated.

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

Choosing a home care agency to cover Wingate

Set out the visits before you compare providers

Care at home is arranged call by call, so decide first what the week needs to look like. Count the visits, fix the rough times, and be honest about which ones involve lifting, bathing or supervising medication, because those shape both the staffing and the price. It helps to separate what is urgent from what would simply make life easier, such as company or help with shopping. An agency that takes time over these details at the enquiry stage is usually the one that will get the rota right.

Where the inspection evidence is uneven

Brisca Healthcare holds a Good rating from the Care Quality Commission, so there is a published report to read in its case. Tender Glove Healthcare and Adada Care Services (Durham) have not yet been rated, which is common for newer registrations and is not in itself a warning sign. Where no rating exists, ask the questions an inspector would: how staff are trained and supervised, how medicines are recorded, how complaints are handled, and whether the registered manager is in post and available. Ask also for references from families already using the service.

Reliability matters more than anything on paper

Press each provider on how many different carers would visit over a fortnight and whether a settled team can be kept. Ask what happens when a carer is off sick, how quickly the office rings to say a call will be late, and who picks up the phone on a Sunday. Arrange for your relative to meet the carers before the package begins, and agree in advance how often the plan will be looked at again.

Arranging an assessment and understanding the cost

Begin with the needs assessment

Anyone who appears to need care can ask for an assessment, and it is worth doing even if you expect to pay privately, because it produces a written record of need and often brings in equipment, adaptations or a falls alarm alongside any care. You can approach Durham County Council adult social care yourself, or ask a general practitioner or hospital team to refer. A financial assessment is handled separately and considers savings and income.

Paying for visits

Agencies charge by the hour, with higher rates at weekends and on bank holidays, and very short calls can work out expensive for the time delivered. Ask all three providers for written rates covering travel, minimum visit lengths and the notice required to cancel. If the council agrees to contribute, ask about a direct payment, which lets you commission an agency of your own choosing. It is also worth checking entitlement to Attendance Allowance, which is not affected by the council's financial assessment.

3 home care in Wingate

Brisca Healthcare · Office 8, Wingate, County Durham, TS28 5HD
Home care · CQC Good · Run by Brisca Healthcare Ltd
We at Brisca Healthcare are proud to provide compassionate home care across Wingate and the surrounding communities of County Durham, supporting people to live safely, comfortably and independently in the place they know best: their own...
Specialisms: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, Learning Disability / Autism, Mental Health, Physical Disability, Visual / Hearing Impairment, Younger Adults
Adada Care Services (Durham) · Unit 15 East Durham Business Centre, Wingate, County Durham, TS28 5HD
Home care · Run by Adada Ltd
Adada Care in Durham provides care and support to people in their own homes in Wingate and across County Durham. We work with older people, younger adults, people living with dementia, people managing mental health conditions, people with...
Specialisms: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, Mental Health, Physical Disability, Visual / Hearing Impairment, Younger Adults
Tender Glove Healthcare · East Durham Business Centre, Wingate, County Durham, TS28 5HD
Home care · Run by Tender Glove Healthcare Ltd
We at Tender Glove Healthcare are proud to provide compassionate home care across Wingate and the surrounding communities of County Durham, supporting people to live safely and comfortably in the place they know best: their own home. Our...
Specialisms: Older Person Care, Dementia Care, Mental Health, Younger Adults

What home care costs

Type of care	What it costs
Hourly care visits, England England figure, because too few North East agencies publish a rate. Middle half of prices from 102 agencies. Median £31.00.	£25.00 to £34.90 an hour
Homecare Association minimum price 2026 to 2027. The Association's estimate of the lowest price that covers the cost of delivering care. It is not a legal minimum.	£34.42 an hour
Live in care, England Middle half of prices from 62 agencies. Median £1,455.	£1,250 to £1,668 a week

Published prices come from agencies that publish rates, so treat them as a guide. Ask the agency for its own price. Powered by Orrery Intelligence.

Frequently asked questions about home care in Wingate

How many home care agencies are there in Wingate?

Wingate has 3 CQC registered home care agencies: 1 Good, 2 not yet rated. Counts come from the CQC register and are kept up to date as ratings change.

Local care news in County Durham

New 48 bed care home registered with CQC in County Durham: Willowdene Care Home (5 November 2026)

More local care news for County Durham