Personal Care is just that, it is personal.
They should be open and honest with you and listen to your exact needs.
Following this, a care plan should be developed and agreed with you or your representative.
Ensure you are agreeing times of your appointments and what tasks will be completed on each visit.
If a care provider cannot do the times which you have asked, be reasonable about this and discuss what alternatives there are.
Don't let them promise what they cannot deliver. It will break the relationship in the very beginning.
Ensure the care provider knows how to get into your house if you cannot get to the door yourself.
Ask them for a copy of the rota in advance so that you know who is coming and at what time.
Nearly all companies now use an electronic system where the visiting notes can be shared with you and/or a family member. Ask for this!
It makes the system more transparent and more likely that the provider will turn up on time and do the tasks for your support.
It allows a family member to keep an eye on you from a distance.
Ensure that you have a signed contract BEFORE you start having any care support.
Watch out for situations where you have been in hospital/residential care for a short period. You may well be having an NHS funded support team in place for the first few weeks, which then transitions into another provider.
You don't get billed for the HS process, but you will for the company that has followed them.
Lots of people have been caught out by this, until they receive an invoice for £1000's.
ALWAYS ensure a contract is signed and you understand what you are paying, or if the local authority/NHS is paying for your support.
Most good companies will want to check that you care plan is working and that you are receiving the support you need.
If you are not, SPEAK up or ask a family member to.
What is initially presented for a persons care support needs, can quickly change in the following weeks.
This is your home and your life. Don't be afraid to speak up if something is not right.
The cost of care - Your own home v's care homes
When considering care, there are normally 2 main options.
Staying in the place you call home and receiving support from carers, or moving into a residential care home.
This is an individual decision based on your/your families unique situation. It is never an easy decision. Here are some key facts for you to consider when thinking about your future.
CARE ASSESSMENTS AND FINANCES
If you are in need of care, you may be entitled to financial assistance from your local Council.
They should send a social worker to assess you for both your needs and finances.
It can all be a bit complicated and can differ from person to person.
As a rule of thumb
- If you have more than £23,250 (2025 rates) in savings, then you will not receive any financial assistance from your Council.
They will possibly provide you with a list of companies who provide care.
You will then have to pick one or do your own research.
Be cautious and do your research (ask a friend or family or even better, someone you know who has care and see if they would recommend the company they use). See our recommendations on our earlier page.
Just because companies are on a council list, doesn't mean they are good.
You should check the company against the CQC or get local recommendations.
(These lists are normally outdated and are can be inaccurate).
Care companies pop up every 2 minutes. Some with very little understanding of the industry and legalities, but with some previous experience of delivering personal care.
If you do have below £23,250 and need a Council Care and Financial assessment, you should ask them about Direct Payments.
Direct payments is a way of giving you more control over your budget and how your care works.
An example could be that during your assessment, it is determined that you are entitled to 45 minutes support in a morning and 45 minutes at bedtime. You may have agreed with your family that they will come and support you each evening so you don't need to spend your budget for the evening appointments.
Hypothetically, you could then have care for 1 hour each morning and then have 1 x 3.5 hrs per week to be taken to the Dr's or shopping.
Direct Payments provides you with the financial equivalent of the assessment to spend with a company of your choice. If you don't choose Direct Payments, you will be allocated one of the Councils appointed companies.
If it works better for you, you can also employ your own individual carer or a self employed team of carers. You may need a brokerage company to deal with the payroll, National Insurance etc.
Be cautious of employing one person individually as you may have no support when they are on holiday or are sick.
How Direct Payments works in practice:
This will give you a personal budget equivalent of the 2 hours per day.
You CANNOT reduce your savings purposefully to avoid paying care fees.
This is called Deprivation of Assets.
There are lots of rules around this area so it is best to get get structured advice.
This doesn't mean that you cannot spend your money, just that the Local Authority can be very scrutinous if they suspect you are moving money to avoid paying care home fees.
To give you an indicator of how much your contribution to your care may be, click on this link
RESIDENTIAL CARE
Cost
A survey carried out by which.co.uk highlights that an average cost is in excess of £31,000 per annum.
If you do the maths, you can see that this indicates a cost of around £600 per week.
This is a rate set by the government at country level for those that are in receipt of funding support.
This is a typical Local Authority rate IF you are NOT A SELF FUNDER.
In reality, if you have savings and assets over £23250 INCLUDING the value of your property, you will be paying for your own care costs, this figure can be easily doubled or treble.
A recent comparative of RESIDENTIAL care costs highlighted that costs varied between £800 to £1500, with some charging £2000 PER WEEK
Tariffs can be imposed by residential care companies depending on the level of support a person requires and their financial position.
These figures indicate that the cost for residential care when privately funded is circa £80,000 per annum.
In comparison, the average cost for care in your own home in 2019/2020 was £11,700.
This still means that the cost of having your support at home although less expensive, is still around £11700 per annum compared with residential care which we recently observed being an average of £1500 per week.
To put it into perspective, you could employ 3 people full time to look after you, and remain in your own property, for a lesser cost than you could pay for higher tariffs in some residential care places.
IMPORTANT - SEE OUR SECTION ON LPA's and WILLS
Private funding
When being assessed for residential care, you will also receive a financial assessment.
This will take into account your level of savings, your income and your assets (your property if you own one).
If you currently have savings in excess of £23,250 you are classed as a "self funder" and will be responsible for your own care costs.
The amount provided by the Local Authority may fall short of your care home costs.
If this is not available, you may have to move to a cheaper care home which is further away.
Some care homes charge for additional services, or rooms that have their own bathrooms.
Losing your home
This can include your savings, investments, premium bonds and property.
Your HOUSE IS NOT INCLUDED in your financial assessment if you have care support in your own home.
Your property can be assessed as part of your assets and used to pay your care costs.
A charging order can be placed on your property so that when your estate passes to your beneficiaries, the cost of care is deducted first.
If you lived in residential care for 3 years at a cost of £50,200 per annum (average of £41600, £78,000 and £31,000 - rates), £150,000 would be deducted from your estate prior to it passing to the beneficiaries of your will.
Your estate, by the time it passes to your beneficiaries will not have much capital left in it.
Sadly, if the value of your estate is used up and you are still living in a residential care home, you may have to leave that care home and move to a different one that is funded by the Local Authority.
There are numerous rules around this process (too many to mention here in a summary) and it would be a strong suggestion to get some legal advice prior to considering this.
RESIDENTIAL CARE
Financial impact on your partner
We have seen numerous examples over the years where a lot of the finances are in one persons name and are not shared equally.
An example - A man has a private pension and a state pension. He receives a good income from his private pension. He is also in receipt of Attendance Allowance. He is now being considered for residential care.
His wife is in receipt of a state pension and a small or no private pension.
The financial assessment will look at ALL of HIS income and that will be used to pay for his care. He will be left with a small weekly allowance.
His State Pension, Private pension and Attendance Allowance will be used for the care home costs.
His wife who remains in their own property will now ONLY have her own State Pension Income and the small private pension.
She will have to run the property on the amount that she receives.
She may be able to qualify for some financial support in the form of Pension Credit, if she qualifies.
Restrictions
Everything that is familiar to you is no longer there.
You will discover that meals will be at prescribed times, you may not be able to take your beloved pet with you, you might not be able to come and go as you please and for numerous places, you might not even have your own bathroom.
Most residential care homes have an equation for the amount of staff required per resident.
This tends to be around 1:6. This would mean that in every 6 hours, you would receive a full hour of attention for your own needs.
Some tell us that they can be distressed by other residents conditions.
Care homes can advertise that they can cope with multiple conditions/disabilities, including physical and mental health conditions.
Some of our clients and their families have highlighted that they had previously tried residential care but discovered that it was a confusing, and sometimes scary place to be, due to some residents conditions.
Reputation
We have seen however that a lot of care homes have a poor reputation.
A Onepoll survey highlights that 97% of people do not want to go into a care home and that 71% said that given their choice, they would prefer to reach end of life in the own homes.
Sadly, we have all seen through the media (and personally) the impact that Covid 19 has had on the impact of the most vulnerable in our society.
There have been an unprecedented amount of deaths in residential care homes and whilst this has improved a little, it is still recognised that there is a pronounced increase to fatality compared to people living in their own homes.
Residential care homes do have some benefits however.
The main benefit of being extra pairs of hands when required.
And whilst most people would rather remain in their own homes, sometimes residential care has to be considered by some when there are no other options.