Residential vs home care: understanding your options

Home care is when a carer provides support to people in their own homes when they need help with activities and tasks of day-to-day life. A competent and compassionate carer will help you with household tasks, personal care, preparing and cooking meals or any other activity that allows you to maintain independence and quality of life.

Home care can also be provided to those with complex health needs or for those living with specialist conditions or a disability that is impacting how they live their life and need nurse-led care.

Home care can be provided in the following ways.

• Hourly care or visiting care, as it is sometimes referred is for those who need care and support with tasks of daily living or clinical care at certain times during the day. Hourly care can be provided from 30 minutes each day, to as many visits or hours you require, one or several days of the week depending on your care and support needs.  For those who have complex needs, hourly care can be provided over a 24-hour period.
• Live-in care for when a permanent care arrangement is needed with greater levels of support around the clock to ensure a person can live well at home.
• Respite care for those needing a short-term arrangement after hospital discharge to rehabilitate or when a family carer needs a break from their caring role. It is also an ideal service for families who wish to assess whether care at home is the right care choice for them.

We are here to help you and your family every step of the way. You can call us on 0808 239 1525 and one of our friendly care advisors will provide information, guidance and advice on your care options.

Or to find the nearest Prestige Nursing & Care service to you, use the search function on our website.

Depending on your needs a comprehensive assessment will be conducted by either a registered nurse or our local care expert. We can conduct the assessment at your home, in hospital or in any specialist care setting if you are awaiting discharge back to your own home enabling a plan of care and support to be developed that meets all your needs.

Our approach to care planning, whether it is for a respite service or a permanent arrangement for hourly care or live-in care ensures we capture all your preferences and wishes so you can live a contented life in the comfort of your own home.

We take time to find the carer that would best meet your care and support needs, making sure they are closely aligned with how you wish to live your life. Once care is in place, our local teams made up of care and clinical experts provide you, your family and our carer with an abundance of on-going support, giving you reassurance that you or your loved one is receiving the very best care at home.

We are here to help you and your family every step of the way and you can call us on 0808 239 1525 and one of our friendly care advisors will provide information, guidance and advice on your care options.   Or to arrange an assessment contact our service near you.

Yes. As part of our considered care planning process we take time to match a team of carers that best meets a clients’ specific needs. We ensure that the care team that cares for you or your loved one has the skills and experience to meet your care and support needs, but we also make sure that they share similar interests, hobbies and values.

You can be reassured that you or your loved one will receive care all year round from a team of well-matched, competent and compassionate carers who truly understand your needs and how you wish to live your life. We know our approach provides consistency and continuity of care and leads to a stimulating and enjoyable life for our clients.

Our responsive and reliable local care at home service means we can put care and support in place quickly and in many cases within 24-hours.

We are providing a fully managed care and support service in over 30 locations in the heart of communities across England and Scotland, so our experts local to you can put care packages in place quickly, working in collaboration with local healthcare professionals involved in your care.

As part of our considered care planning process, we take time to match a team of carers that best meets a clients’ specific needs. We ensure that the care team that cares for you or your loved one has the skills and experience to meet your care and support needs, but we also make sure that they share similar interests, hobbies and values. We know this leads to a stimulating and enjoyable life for our clients.

When you choose Prestige Nursing & Care you can be reassured that the carer who cares for you or your loved one is expertly trained to provide the support you need, to the high standards you should expect. All carers that join us complete our induction training programme, which goes above mandatory requirements.

We adopt a bespoke approach to training that ensures our carers have the knowledge, skills and aptitude to deliver high-quality home care that meets the needs of our clients. If a client is living with a specialist condition or disability, we will ensure they have all the training and support they need to provide effective care.

A home carer will provide a range of care and support services to you in the comfort of your home, including:

• Specialist care of complex conditions, like dementia or Parkinson’s
• Expert nurse-led care
• Personal care
• Socialisation and companionships
• Domestic tasks, such as laundry, cleaning and shopping
• Meal preparation
• Rehabilitation and home from hospital
• Palliative / end-of-life care
• Overnight care
• Medications management

A care and support plan is a written statement created by our local care expert or registered nurse following our thorough assessment of your needs. It outlines all your specific care needs but also covers all your choices and preferences in how you live your life.

The care plan identifies specific care and support tasks involved in your care detailing when, where and how they should be carried out and by who. It ensures you get the right care, in the right time and in the right place – your home.

Our local care expert will conduct a comprehensive review of the plan working with your care to team to ensure it always accurately reflects your needs and you achieve your outcomes.

When choosing a care provider, there are several factors that are worth considering:

Regulated service provider or agency

It is really important when considering a home care provider that you recognise the differences between a regulated service provider, whose service is registered and inspected by the Government and an agency, who are unlikely to provide a regulated service and whose carers will be self-employed.  Care services in England are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and in Scotland by the Care Inspectorate.

Quality assurance through regulated service provision

Prestige Nursing & Care is not an agency.  Unlike a home care agency, we provide a fully regulated home care service, which means our clients, their families and our professional partners can be reassured that the care and support we provide is of the very highest quality.

Our service is inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England and the Care Inspectorate (SCI) in Scotland.  We are proud that 96% of our inspected services in England have been rated as providing a ‘Good’ service, with 4% rated ‘Outstanding’ and all our services in Scotland have been awarded a five-star rating.

Fully managed service or introduction agency

When arranging care at home you will need to consider how much involvement you want in managing the care you receive.  With a fully managed service, like Prestige Nursing & Care you will benefit from carers that are employed, expertly trained to meet specific client needs and high levels of management and clinical oversight to ensure you receive a high quality service.  If you choose an introduction agency, the carers are self-employed and once introduced to you they will need to be managed, supervised and paid for by the family.  If they need time off or holiday, then you will need to arrange cover which is not always easy and can cause issues with continuity of care for you or your loved one.

We know many families like the peace of mind and reassurance, that comes from knowing their loved one is getting quality and continuity of care that comes from using a fully managed service provider.

The value of recommendations

Many families who are arranging care at home for a loved one or family member, will seek recommendations from those they know.  It is also worth consulting your local authority social services team to see who they consider to be a reputable provider as they will have vetted the provider to meet essential standards of quality and compliance.

There are also rate and review websites that cover care providers in the UK.  Homecare.co.uk and NHS Choices receive online reviews from those who have used provider services and the UKHCA (United Kingdom Home Care Association) will also have a list of reputable providers for you to choose from.

The cost of home care is dependent on the level of care and support you require. If you are receiving our hourly home care the overall cost will be determined by the number of visits and frequency of visits to you at home.

Our experts will conduct a comprehensive assessment of your needs at your home, or in hospital if you are awaiting discharge to truly understand what you need and therefore how much care at home will cost.

We know that the cost of our professional home care is very competitive when compared with other home care providers.  It is worth noting that when comparing the cost of home care with a care package in a care home, that the fee you pay for home care is actually for the care and support you receive.  In a care home your weekly fee mainly covers your accommodation, food and social activities with the care package being only a small part of what you pay.

You may be entitled to either healthcare funding, social care funding or Government funding to contribute to the cost of home care.  If you are faced with having to finance your own home care (known as self-funding care), there are initiatives available to you, including care fees annuities or equity release schemes that could provide the funds you need for your care and support.

At Prestige Nursing & Care we have been helping families up and down the country to understand how they can finance care, whether that is through funding available to them or financing initiatives that can contribute to the cost of care.

If you are living with a complex need and require nurse-led care or paediatric care you may be entitled to healthcare funding to receive this care at home.

If you need care and support for day-to-day tasks and activities to enable you to maintain independence, then you may be entitled to social care funding to get the help you need.  This is means tested funding so the level of funding will depend on your care needs and your personal circumstances.

Depending on your needs you may be eligible for funding through Government initiatives, like the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

For many families however, they find they do not qualify for any funding to contribute to their overall cost of care and are faced with financing care themselves – this is referred to as private pay or self-funding care.  You may wish to consider a care fees annuity or an equity release scheme if you are self-funding your care as they can considerably contribute to the cost of home care.

At Prestige Nursing & Care we have been helping families throughout Scotland to understand how they can finance care, whether that is through funding available to them or financing initiatives that can contribute to the cost of care.

In Scotland personal and/or nursing care is funded to all adults in the country over the age of 65 who have been assessed by their local authority as eligible for these services.  Personal care refers to anything done for you that is personal in nature.  This may include tasks relating to personal hygiene, bathing/showring, shaving and oral hygiene, nail care, toileting and continence care, catheter and stoma care, skincare, laundry and bed changing.  Read more about care funding in Scotland.

For many families however, they find they do not qualify for any funding to contribute to their overall cost of care and are faced with financing care themselves – this is referred to as private pay or self-funding care.  You may wish to consider a care fees annuity or an equity release scheme if you are self-funding your care as they can considerably contribute to the cost of home care.

We are providing care and support to people in over 30 locations in the heart of communities across England and Scotland. Find a care service near you.

Find out why our clients choose Prestige Nursing & Care for a high quality, responsive home care service

As we have a team of carers assigned to care for you, one of the other members of your care team will be able to step in offering continuity of care.

We provide a monthly invoice to you for care services provided based on the package of care we agree with you when we start our service.  Most of our clients find that paying a monthly direct debit is the most convenient way to pay for their care.

If you cannot answer the door to your care team, we ask that you install a key box safe outside your home that they can gain access.  The code would remain confidential between our office and the care team to ensure your security and safety.

If you are looking for a regulated service provider like Prestige Nursing & Care in England, you will be able to search for these providers on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website.

In Scotland you will need to visit the Care Inspectorate website.

Absolutely. Our carer will remain with you at all times to ensure you get the care you need in an emergency. If you need to go to hospital, they will come with you to support you.  The carer will liaise with your family and any other health professionals involved in your care to make sure everyone is informed of the situation and you have the reassurance you need.

Our fully managed service is provided 24/7, 365 days a year so you can be reassured that you or your loved one will receive care all year round from a team of well-matched, competent and compassionate carers who truly understand your needs and how you wish to live your life.