When searching for suitable and quality home carer, it can be stressful and overwhelming to find the best care agency to suit your needs. To help make this search easier, we’ve created a list of 4 questions to ask your home carer. Asking these questions to each agency can help you discover which agency is most suitable for the care you need and more importantly, can support your lifestyle and wishes most!
First, we recommend that you outline what support you’re looking for. Could you benefit from short visit care? Or specialist care? Different agencies offer different services so it’s helpful to understand and know what you need from a care agency so you can continue to enjoy life at home.
Question 1: How flexible are the care visits?
It’s important to understand how the agency’s care is scheduled. Will you receive weekly times? How easily can these be amended to suit your schedule? Also, ask about notice for cancelling visits or appointments.
Getting an understanding of how the care agency works, can ultimately help you see whether they will be a good fit for your life and needs. Remember to ask this for their range of services. For example, domestic help care will be more flexible compared to 24 hour home care due to the differences in care support. So, make sure to tailor your question to the care you need.
At Verina Daly Care, we have our family care app that allows you and families to easily view times and home carers visiting. The app also has the ability to easily rearrange care if needed.
Question 2: Will I have dedicated home carers?
Having the same regular carers visit can have a huge impact. The continuity of care contributes most to customer satisfaction as well! It helps to get an understanding of new people that will enter your home and how the standard of care is ensured.
It’s also beneficial to ask about contingency plans in case your regular home carer is on holiday or off sick. How will the care agency manage the duties to a carer who hasn’t visited before?
Our handy care app is also used by our carers. It tells our carers all the tasks and medications outlined in your care plan. Our carers also leave notes to one another about special things to remember for each client, such as this client doesn’t like too much milk in their tea. Using these apps ensures we are always providing our best standard of care to all of our clients and their families. In addition, all our staff are hand-picked, dedicated professionals trained to CQC standard regulations. Our staff are qualified at NVQ Level 2 or above and are fully referenced checked.
Question 3: How will you work out the best care plan for me?
This can again, help you further learn how the care agency operates. Will they work with your doctors to help extend your care to your home? Will they listen and understand your care needs and wishes? How often will your care plan be reviewed? These questions can help you learn the quality of care and service you can expect from an agency.
For example, at Verina Daly Care, we work in partnership with all local Healthcare Professionals. Including your NHS GP and Local Community Nursing teams to ensure you get exactly the support you need, tailored to you. Our main focus is, and always will be, the best standard of care and support for each and every one of our clients in their own home.
Question 4: Do you currently provide care to individuals with similar needs to mine?
This is a great question if you’re especially seeking specialist home care. Here you can understand how they can support you and see if they are fully equipped to meet your needs. It is also a good opportunity to read testimonials from clients to hear about their services and what you can expect.
For example, we offer specialist care for Alzheimer’s, Dementia, end of life and 24-hour care. Finding a specialist in care that you need can really make a difference. Click here to view our recent testimonials.
Have more questions for your home carer?
We provide high quality personal home care services and support for individuals who would like to remain in their own home. We are based in Droxford in Hampshire and cover the surrounding villages within a 15-mile radius.
We are now taking consultation bookings for anyone that wishes to discuss any of our professional home care services in more detail before making any commitments. The management team in the office would be happy to speak with you at any time so please get in touch.
