This information sheet attempts to describe the kind of service
known as Domiciliary Care or Home care, what it covers, how to
obtain it and the role of the Council’s Social Services in
providing it, arranging it, paying for it and charging for it.
Domiciliary care means a service which is carried out in a
person’s own home. It is often known as Home Care or Home
Helps in some areas. It commonly covers aspects of personal care
and domestic tasks which someone who is frail or disabled may not
be able to do for themselves.
Domiciliary Care plays an important part in enabling older and
disabled people to live in their own homes as independently as
possible.
Social Services may pay for the provision of a domiciliary care
service for people who meet certain eligibility criteria.
There are basically two kinds of eligibility which are considered
separately. The first kind of eligibility is on grounds of
need, and the second is on financial grounds. For example, a
person may meet the criteria on grounds of need but if they have
over a certain amount of savings they will be deemed able to
purchase the service for themselves. These people are not
eligible on financial grounds and are referred to in this leaflet
as Self Funders.
Who will actually provide a Domiciliary Care service in Bath
& North East Somerset?
If you are eligible for a service provided through Social
Services, you may receive a service from one of a number of
different providers. The Council runs its own Home Care
service with workers directly employed by the council, and it also
commissions services from independent and privately owned
agencies.
People eligible under Social Services criteria can sometimes
have a Direct Payment in order to employ someone of their own
choice to provide a service. Your social worker can tell you
more about Direct
payments.
If someone is not financially eligible for a service from Social
Services but cannot deal with purchasing a service on their own
behalf, and has no one to do this for them, Social Services will
sometimes set up and manage the service on their behalf. In
this case the client will still pay the full cost.
Standards and Regulation
Domiciliary Care is what is known as a Registered Service. This
means anyone who has a business providing a service of personal
care to people in their own homes must be registered with an
independent government agency called the Commission for Social
Care Inspection (CSCI) and must conform to certain legal
standards, including criminal records bureau checks for
staff. CSCI carries out regular inspections of agencies,
including the Council’s own service, and inspection reports are
available to the public.
Independent agencies who are commissioned to provide a service
to clients of Social Services must also sign a contract with the
Council which stipulates high standards of service.
For those who are not financially eligible for a service through
Social Services, the Council can provide a list of local
Domiciliary Care agencies on request. For further information see
the end of this leaflet.
Cost
Self Funding clients can expect to pay between £10 and £17
per hour, with higher rates sometimes applying at weekends, nights
and bank holidays.
People receiving a service via Social Services may be exempt if
they are receiving certain benefits, or pay a sliding scale of
charges depending on a financial assessment. For more detail
about charging, see our leaflet Charges for Home Care
What can a Domiciliary Care Worker do?
Typically, a domiciliary care worker will carry out personal
care tasks which a caring relative might perform, such as help with
washing, bathing, showering, dressing, shaving, oral hygiene,
emptying a catheter bag and dealing with incontinence pads,
emptying commodes, applying skin cream, and prompting with
medication. They will not carry out tasks which require
qualified nurse training such as giving injections or dressing
wounds. Some tasks which are ‘borderline’ nursing tasks such
as changing ileostomy bags may be carried out only after training
or guidance from a District Nurse or other qualified person. This
will need to be considered when setting up the service.
Domestic tasks might include shopping, cleaning, vacuuming,
collecting prescriptions, ensuring disposal of out of date food in
the fridge, making up beds, machine laundry, heating ready meals,
washing up etc.
Please note that clients receiving a Social Services funded
service will only receive help to meet critical and substantial
needs. This may not cover some things which you may think are
essential to keep up your personal standards.
The social worker who carries out your assessment will be able
to discuss with you what can be provided in more detail.
Self funding clients who have a private contract with an agency
may be able to purchase help with a wider range of tasks.
All providers have a responsibility for the health and
safety of their staff - for example staff will not lift
heavy weights which may cause them injury. Providers
will normally carry out a risk assessment in the client’s home
before agreeing to start providing a service.
Will they know about me and my needs?
Where a service is arranged and/or provided through Social
Services, we will carry out an assessment of needs and write a care
plan which will detail the services to be provided. You will
be fully involved and consulted at all stages, and will receive a
written copy of your assessment and care plan, as will the
provider.
If there is particular information about you which you do not
wish to be shared with a provider, you can discuss this with your
social worker. We can only share information about you with
your consent, but we have a duty to protect the health and safety
of members of staff. In the very small number of cases where
we consider that there is a risk to staff from the household, we
will record this on your case file and must inform our
providers. You will be informed if this is the case and have
an opportunity to comment.
All providers are under a duty to keep information about you
confidential.
If you are arranging a service privately, the manager of the
service should carry out their own interview with you and gather
information from other people who know you such as your doctor or
district nurse, to ensure that you receive appropriate care.
This information should be passed to staff actually
providing your care.
Complaints
1. For people receiving a Social Services arranged
service:
You should contact the provider direct and discuss it with a
manager in the first instance.
If you are unable to resolve the problem with the provider, you
should contact your social worker if you have one. Most
people will not have a permanently allocated social services
worker, in which case you can ring the Council on 01225 477000 and
ask for the Adult Duty Team.
2. For people with a privately arranged service who pay
for their own care:
All agencies should have a complaints procedure. Normally you
should contact the manager of the agency and most complaints can be
resolved in this way. Complaints can also be addressed to the
Commission for Social Care Inspection.
