Home Care and Support

To give you more say in how and when you get the support you need we are changing the way your carers manage their time. The number of hours allocated in your care package will be flexible across a four-week period. Instead of working to a fixed and rigid rota your carers will be able to agree with you what works best for you. Nothing will change without your agreement and the care company will discuss with you any changes you would like. Here are a few examples of how you might want to make use of the new service.

Mary and Ted

Our care worker, Alison, comes to our house each Wednesday afternoon for two hours between 1pm and 3pm to sit with Ted while  I go shopping. I’m usually back by 2.30pm,  so there’s 30 spare minutes most weeks. Under the new service Mary can ask Alison to save some of their allocated time to give Mary two hours on a Friday every now and then to go to the ladies’ lunch club at church. Mary will feel better for seeing her friends and more able to look after Ted the rest of the week.

Loretta

When I got the flu it wiped me out. Luckily my carer Carol was there to help. The only problem was that while I recovered I still needed a bit more time to get up, washed and dressed and then there was no time for us to have a cuppa and a chat,  or for her to help me to get a load of washing in. Under the new service if Loretta was poorly one week Carol would be able to use some of the time from another week to give her the extra time when she needed it. It’s that flexibility that will help Loretta to get the most from her  home care.

Ray and Barbara

My wife Barbara uses a wheelchair and has two carers, who come twice a day to help her to get out of bed, washed and dressed. They come back at night to get her settled back into bed. But since she’s had a stroke she now needs someone else to come to make sure she takes the correct medication and to change the dressing on her leg for an ulcer. We have no time to ourselves with people coming and going all day long. Under the new service Barbara’s regular carers will be able to do some of the more medical care and so they won’t have so many different people coming and going.

Billy

I had a heart attack when I was 79 and needed a pacemaker fitted. When I came home I was anxious about going upstairs on my own and I was soon out of breath trying to do my usual housework and cooking. The Council organised carers to come to help me, and to start with that was brilliant. But after a few months, when I was fitter I felt there was more I could do for myself. But my carers Wayne and Sue were still doing everything for me, and I didn’t like to tell them any different so I haven’t ever really got back to the level of independence I had before. Under the new service Billy’s carers would be focussing more on helping him to regain his confidence and strength and regain his independence and reduce the reliance he has on the care workers who can then assist people that do need more support.