How to manage home care services in Cheltenham

Navigating and optimising home care services in Cheltenham can be a challenge. There’s a lot to think about, and keeping on top of it all is tricky.

From scheduling to making payments and timetabling to reviewing your caregiver, looking after yourself is essential.

We’ve put together several thoughts on the best way to approach Cheltenham home care on this page. We’ll also discuss ensuring it doesn’t become too much for you or your loved one. You’ll find a short list of local resources we believe you’ll find infinitely helpful at the bottom of the page.

Overview of home care services in Cheltenham

A quick look online will show you between 30 and 40 options for home care in Cheltenham. You’ll also come across some popular residential and nursing homes. These all have a critical role to play.

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the population in the 2021 census was 118,800. This number grew slower than average in the South-West region based on the previous 2011 data. The median age also increased from 38 to 40. We can see an increase in the ratio of people over 50 and a decrease in the proportion of those between 16 and 49.

What can we draw from this? That the average person in Cheltenham is getting older. This means more home care services will be needed as time progresses.

Cheltenham home care services: things to organise

When organising home care in Cheltenham, there are a number of things you’ll need to manage. We’ve put together some of the fundamental basics below.

Cheltenham home care provider

You’ll first need to select the home care provider in Cheltenham you’d like to work with. This process alone can be laborious and require significant research, but it’s well worth it. You must be able to trust the person (or persons) coming into your home or the home of your loved one.

Consider these factors when selecting the right home care service provider for you:

• Specialities – providers offer different specialities. For example, if the care recipient is becoming more severely affected by dementia, look for dementia home care.
• Interviews – don’t be afraid to chat with multiple home care providers. Sometimes, someone stands out with above and beyond knowledge, understanding or commitment.
• Testimonials – you’ll find reviews and testimonials online. Although these should be taken with a pinch of salt, a detailed read often gives a good insight into the business.
• Local – local branches of a home care provider can mean the caregivers understand the local area. This might benefit the person receiving care when they want to chat about Cheltenham or visit somewhere they love.

Coordinating services and scheduling

Once you’ve signed up with your chosen home care provider, it’s time to start scheduling. When are they coming and how often? How long should they stay? What jobs will they have to do?

The providers themselves should be able to help you here, perhaps providing a suggested timeline or schedule. You can modify this as you see fit. Keep in contact with them until you’ve agreed on something.

Alongside scheduling the home care services, you’ll need to organise other events around their visits. For instance, if the caregiver arrives at 8 am to help your loved one get dressed and have breakfast, the hairdresser doesn’t need to come until at least 10 am (or however long this typically takes). Likewise, the allocated time to take them shopping doesn’t need to be until the afternoon.

It doesn’t sound like much, but when these schedules and events clash, it creates headaches. Consider using an online, cloud-based calendar (like Google or Apple) so everyone who needs to know what’s happening can easily see the day’s events.

Making payments

Home care services do cost, and it’s important to keep up with payments, as with anything else.

When first signing the contract, you’ll have agreed on a price with the home care provider, including any extras, overtime, compensation, etc. Different companies do things in various ways. For instance, they may take a direct deposit each month or send you an invoice on a particular day.

An excellent way to keep up with payment dates – especially when you have multiple services and are looking after the bills for your loved one – is to set every service to be paid on the same day of the month (for example, the 1st). You could also note the dates in the cloud-based calendar as a reminder to pay the bills.

Ensuring quality of care

Once your Cheltenham home care commences, keeping on top of things is still crucial. The caregiver should provide top-quality home care, showing respect and compassion at all times to both the care recipient and their loved ones.

If you feel something isn’t right, chat with the individual or raise a complaint with their employer or agency (see below).

Sometimes, you might need to end the contract and sign with someone else.

Handling disputes and complaints

Disputes and complaints might be raised based on quality of care, unforeseen extra charges, and other such things. When these disagreements arise, the provider should have a proper channel through which complaints can be sent.

In most cases, we would hope that this resolves the issue in one way or another. In the worst-case scenario, you could take a severe problem higher and deal with the CQC (the Care Quality Commission). This is the governing body for all care providers (home care or care homes) in the UK.

Local Cheltenham resources to help with home care

Here are a few resources you’ll find in Cheltenham to help with home care:

• Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Community Wellbeing Service – support and connections to other support groups, including home care, bereavement, stress, isolation and debt
• Tidal Training – medical and awareness courses
• Cheltenham Autism Support
• Cheltenham Dementia Action Alliance

Caremark provides home care services in Cheltenham

Caremark provides home care services in Cheltenham, Gloucester and the surrounding areas. Our staff are committed to compassionate, honest, kind and trustworthy visits or live-in appointments. We believe in them to work with your loved one and do everything that needs to be done.

Are you interested in how we can help you with Cheltenham home care? If so, please don’t hesitate to reach out for a commitment-free chat. Give us a call on 01242 370797 or email our office at cheltenham-tewkesbury@caremark.co.uk. Our friendly team is always happy to offer a helping hand or a listening ear.