Having paid care at home in north London or elsewhere can make a significant difference if you, your partner or a close relative are struggling with mobility or everyday tasks. With this support, you can continue to live independently in your own property for far longer than might otherwise have been possible.
And home-based care can be a short or long-term arrangement. You might, for example, just need a bit of extra help for a few weeks as you recover from an illness. Equally, you may want a care provider for an hour a week, daily, or perhaps only at night. There are also options to support people with disabilities or those needing end-of-life support. Having full-time, live-in carers is another option.
So there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, and the type of care you book depends on what is needed for your own situation, needs and preferences.
Here are some of the different care-at-home choices on offer; as you can see, they cover a broad spectrum of needs:
- Domiciliary (visiting) care
Under this day-to-day arrangement, a professional carer visits you at home in north London or anywhere else at pre-agreed, time-limited points during the day to assist with daily living tasks including personal care (for example help with getting washed and dressed or going to the toilet), preparing meals, light housework, offering reminders about medication and encouraging mobility. How often the carer comes is entirely up to you, and could vary from several times a day to once a week.
- Live-in care
If you need a more consistent level of support, live-in care could offer the ideal solution, and it’s an increasingly popular option. It means that you stay in surroundings which are familiar to you while enjoying round-the-clock care. A service like this encompasses everything from cooking to companionship. Plus, crucially, there’s the reassurance for the patient and their family of having someone on-site overnight.
- Specialist care
In some cases, people need carers with specialist training, for example in palliative or dementia care, or in looking after those with other long-term medical conditions meaning they have complex medical needs. Carers providing this service typically have extra qualifications, and work with the healthcare professionals looking after the patient to provide the highest possible standard of support. What’s more, care is tailored to suit needs which may often change.
Tasks could include some simple medical duties such as changing dressings, managing tubes or changing dressings.
- Respite care
This gives family carers a break, safe in the knowledge that their loved one is being well looked after. It can include temporary live-in respite care or help with someone’s recovery following a spell in hospital.
- Night care
As the name suggests, this is the provision of support and peace of mind overnight, typically between 10pm and 7am. The carer can either stay awake and provide help throughout the night, or sleep in the home so that they are available in the event of an emergency.
- Companionship care
This is all about social interaction and emotional support for anyone who may otherwise feel isolated or lonely. Those who use this service get to see a friendly face and may also receive assistance with light household chores. Often, these carers will accompany patients on appointments or outings, further reducing isolation. The goal is to improve the person’s wellbeing, as well as their confidence in being able to manage on their own at home.
Exceptional home care in north London from Visiting Angels
At Visiting Angels, our home care services in north London and elsewhere encompass all of the above and more. Let us take the time to get to know and understand you and what you need, before devising a care plan that’s precisely tailored to your particular requirements. We’ve supported thousands of families in this way over the past two decades, and we could help yours, too.
We provide a consistently high standard of care, with a flexible service that adapts and changes as necessary. You’ll also receive reliable visits from the same carer, the one you chose initially, so that you can look forward to real companionship and building a genuine human connection. Plus we enjoy an exceptionally low staff turnover rate in a sector in which staff retention is often an issue.
Take the first step today. Get in touch and we’ll take it from there.
