Home care, or domiciliary care, is paid-for care received in the home. The care provided can range from help with every day tasks to specialist care for conditions including Dementia and Strokes. Traditionally, home care is costed/paid for on an hourly rate. If you are looking for home care support for elderly relatives then our new Home Care Finder is a good place to start.
With over 11,000 companies listed and regularly updated, you can use it to find the best care providers, the services they each offer, and general home care cost information in every county in England.
Helping you create the best shortlist for your relatives
Finding the right home care is more art than science and it will most likely be a combination of factors ranging from the cost of home care, type of care needed, where your elderly parents or relatives live, how much care is required and the compatibility of the carers with their clients.
The finder tool will enable you to draw up a list of companies to contact to give you the best chance of finding the right care in the right place at the right time, and at an affordable rate.
Our tool is regularly updated with all the information you need
We regularly add new information to our care finder tool including average costs of home care in different cities, counties and towns. Our own research has discovered that the range of cost varies from £13 – £30 per hour.
Depending upon where your parents live (in a rural area or a town), what kind of care they need and how often; cost may also depend upon the number of care agencies operating in particular areas.
Below is a list of regions where you can currently find information on average home care fees:
We include different types of care companies for more choice
A home care introductory agency acts as a broker between you and self-employed carers they have on their books. You then become the carers employer, responsible for PAYE, NI and pension contributions, as well as sick pay and holiday pay. These companies are not regulated by the Care Quality Commission because they don’t deliver the care themselves, so do not have a publicly available rating.
A home care provider recruits, trains and employs its own carers. You have a contract with the company to provide the agreed amount and type of care. They are responsible for PAYE, NI, sick pay and sick cover etc. Because these companies are responsible for the delivery of care they are regulated by the CQC and you can find their rating in the care finder tool.
You may also find that a number of companies offer both services, or for example that an introductory agency will manage the payroll for you.
All results are personalised to your requirements, whether you're looking to find care by region or postcode
Where your parents or relatives live will be an important factor in finding home care services for them.
Travel to and from clients is one consideration for care companies, not least because of fuel prices, but also time spent travelling rather than caring.
You can search the finder by postcode and also broaden out to a county-wide search for care. The individual listings may only present “head office” locations rather than satellite offices in smaller towns, so it is worth widening out your search to the whole county if you feel you need more choice.
Refine your search further with CQC ratings for all regulated providers
In addition to location and types of services provided, the Home Care finder will also provide you with the rating of the care company according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which regulates and monitors all care services in England. Each care provider is regularly reviewed by the CQC and it is worth reading the reports that are publicly available on the CQC website.
Considerations when you've created a shortlist
How much care - and time - is needed each day/week?
Home care is usually scheduled and priced in hour-long blocks. Increasingly, care companies are only accepting new clients who commit to a minimum amount of time each week/month. It is useful to be able to suggest the amount of time each day and week/month that you think is needed. The care company will also make its own assessment.
What times of the day and night is the care needed?
You can work out the likely times when care is needed – what time does Mum get up in the morning? When does Dad go to bed?
The ability of the care company to provide the care needed at the time you wanted may be difficult for some so you may need to contact a number of companies.
How much will you have to pay?
As already mentioned, care is priced by the hour. It varies across the country from £13 – £30 per hour depending upon the type of care needed.
It’s a tricky issue as to what constitutes value for money particularly if you are paying for care; however you want to find the best care you can for the budget you have.
Can you get financial assistance to pay for care?
Ensuring your parents or relatives are receiving all the benefits and financial assistance to which they are entitled is an important aspect here: for example, Attendance Allowance is available for anyone aged over 65 who needs more help at home. At just over £100 per week, this could make a useful contribution to home care costs. You can find out more about funding care here.
Our section on home care provides lots of useful guidance and information about all aspets of care at home.
