Home Care can be tailored to meet your needs.

This can range from a visit once a day to a much greater amount of support. Even those with quite significant and debilitating medical conditions can get skilled personal care that can enable them to stay in their own home.

Some agencies also offer live-in care, where a care worker will stay with you at home to support you throughout the day and night.

More information about care at home 

• Help at home from a carer - NHS 
• Homecare help for elderly | Domiciliary care | Age UK 

Social care and support services are usually paid for either:

• privately by you or your family
• by the local authority (Worcestershire County Council) when you're eligible for support

If you are eligible to receive adult social care support on a long-term basis, we will talk to you some more, to complete a financial assessment to work out how much, if anything, you will have to contribute towards the cost of care yourself.

Find out more about paying for care

If you need support from medically trained assistants to help you look after yourself, and you have a complex, long term condition, you may need NHS continuing healthcare to provide your social care. This type of social care is free of charge.

Non-means-tested care and support 

Care provided by the NHS in your own home is free; for example, services provided by a community or district nurse. Intermediate care, if received at home, may also be free. 

Some people do not have to pay towards care services. For example, aftercare services provided under section 117 of the Mental Health Act are free of charge. 

If you need care or support, you may be eligible to claim Attendance Allowance or Personal Independence Payments (PIP) these are non-means-tested benefits. 

If you are eligible, you can receive Attendance Allowance or Personal Independence Payments regardless of how much income or capital you have. 

Attendance Allowance is payable to people over the age of 65 and Personal Independence Payments to those aged 16 to 64. There are different rates that can be awarded, dependent on the level and type of help you need. These, along with eligibility information, can be found at GOV.UK
 

• if you have been assessed as needing care at home (domiciliary care) and you are eligible for funding for example you have funds of less than £23,250, our social workers will arrange for your care through our Brokerage Team 
• If you have not been assessed as needing care at home (domiciliary care) you can contact us to have a discussion about your needs. 

Read more information about who is eligible for support

If you are not eligible for funding for example, you have funds of over £23,250 and are self-funding, you can choose to find your own care at home independently.

Care choices has details of all care providers in Worcestershire, along with some hints and tips of what to look for when arranging your own care. 

Support to find your own care

You also have the option to access our Brokerage Service to search for care and support to meet your needs in the same way as those who are funded. You don't need to have had a financial assessment to access the service.

The Brokerage Service

The Brokerage Team will search over 100 providers who have contracts with the Council to provide care for people in their own homes and we will offer the best matches for your needs. The types of care that the

Brokerage Team can arrange for you include:

• food shopping
• housework
• personal care (dressing, bathing etc)
• help with managing finances
• accessing the community
• help with medication
• help with eating and drinking

For a simple one-off charge this service can help you make informed choices about the different options offered by providers, including the cost of that care, to meet your care needs.

The Brokerage Service is a fast and reliable service which means you get the care you need as quickly as possible, without the hassle of negotiating costs with numerous providers.

The Brokerage Service includes:

• a search of our contracted providers (over 100), all of whom are registered with the Care Quality Commission, within three working days – results are normally returned within 24 hours
• professional help and advice from qualified social workers to enable you to make an informed decision on the providers most suitable for your care needs

The cost per search is £76.80. If you choose to arrange your own care we can supply a Care Directory, free of charge.

How to access the Brokerage Service

1. Contact us for a discussion about your needs
2. You will then need to pay before we undertake any search.
3. Before you pay, have your debit or credit card available. Note that the cost per search is £76.80.
4. Pay for Brokerage Service

For more information about this service, please contact us.

The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

They keep a list of the care providers and give each one a rating. You can use the rating information to help you to make a decision about which care provider would be suitable for you.

The Homecare Association requires its members to comply with a code of practice. This code includes a commitment to treat customers with dignity and respect and operate at a level above the legal minimum required in legislation.

Social care regulations do not apply to cleaners, handypersons or gardeners. However, some home care agencies are increasingly providing staff who can help meet these needs too. 

The benefits of using a regulated agency include: 

• assessing your care needs and tailoring a plan to meet those needs. 
• advertising, interviewing and screening suitability of workers. 
• arranging necessary insurance cover. 
• providing training and development for care workers. 
• managing workers’ pay, including compliance with the National Minimum Wage. 
• managing employment relationships, including sickness, absence and disciplinary matters. 
• managing health and safety issues

If you are unhappy with your care provider, it is best to have a conversation with your care provider first to see if your concerns can be resolved. 

If this is not possible you may wish to submit a complaint. This can be done directly to the provider as each care provider has their own complaints process. 

If you are not satisfied with the response from the care provider or you do not wish to complain directly to your care provider you can do this through our compliments, comments and complaints page.

It is also important to discuss your concerns with your allocated social worker, if you have one, so they are aware and able to best support you. 
 

Continuity of care is when you receive care and support from one council in England, and you move home to another area without a break in your care.

If you’re moving to a different area

Let us know you are moving away from Worcestershire so that we can start the continuity of care process.

You can contact us to start this process.

We will send your new council your:

• care and support plan
• carer’s support plan if they are moving with you

Your new council will talk to you before you move about the support you and your carer may need. They may visit you in your new home to see if your needs have changed after moving.

If you’re moving to Worcestershire

Speak to your current council who will start the continuity of care process.

They will make us aware that you are moving to Worcestershire as part of the transfer process.