How should I choose a home care company, like Visiting Angels Burton and Derby? This is the most important question you need to answer when looking for a home care company. There are many companies, all apparently offering “high quality care”, however nothing is as simple as that. Below is a set of simple questions to guide you through the winding path of selecting the best home care company…
Three basic areas to ask about…
- The company
- The caregiver
- The support
The company
- Question 1. Has the Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered the company?
The CQC must register every home care company in order for them to carry out some activities, e.g. washing, helping to use the toilet, preparing food, monitoring and administering medications etc. Do not engage with them if they are not registered because it is illegal for them to do these activities. Registration guarantees they have robust processes, their employees are selected robustly and trained. Go to the CQC web site https://www.cqc.org.uk/ and type in the location of where the person needing support lives and check if they exist on the CQC website. Avoid any home care company not on the CQC register.
- Question 2. What do existing clients think of them?
Do they work well with people who may have dementia or Alzheimer’s. Do they have any client reviews you can look at, if so, review these before engaging with the home care company. Search on Google and check out any reviews or go to Homecare.co.uk, https://www.homecare.co.uk, search for them and check out reviews. This will be a reasonably good guide to their performance.
- Question 3: Do I know anyone who is already receiving support from the company in mind?
What do people say about them, not just when everything goes well but how does the home care company handle issues when they arise. Do they ignore them and carry on or do they fix them, to the satisfaction of the client
More about the Caregiver soon….