When you embark on the mission to find elderly care companies, you will discover that what at first sight was a fairly straightforward task can prove to be somewhat more complex. Unless you are going to rely on luck and pick the first company you find, you have any number of options open to you.
Probably the best place to start is with ‘you’. There are lots of searching questions that will need to be asked and answers found. Imagine your hand is on the bible, or other suitable book, because you will need to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Getting good care is not going to be cheap so you need to be brutally honest with yourself about what it is you want and exactly what it is that you need.
Level of Care
You will have to decide what level of care you need and this will almost certainly be an on-going process. You don’t want to be paying for help cooking a boiled egg, for example, when you could perfectly well do this for yourself but hoovering the stairs may be a ‘bridge too far’. When confronted with the discovery that there are dozens of seemingly reliable elderly care companies to choose from, all of which make similar promises, you may decide not to go down this route and start looking for your own carer.
Direct or Agency?
Although this may seem the right thing to do at the time, do consider the following: You will be responsible for your carer’s HMRC and employment administration; you will have to provide access to a pension; you will need to provide paid holidays and possibly sick leave and calculate tax and National Insurance payments every month. You have just become an employer!
Perhaps finding an elderly care company is a better idea after all. Reputable firms such as Guardian Carers should be able to address any queries or concerns you may have and will be able to provide testimonials from happy clients. Having selected the right agency, you can now relax in the knowledge that your elderly care provider will look for the right carer for you, agree with you and perhaps with your family, the level of care that you need, agree a budget with you and ensure that the care you require is available, if necessary, 24/7.
A good care provider will also give you the peace of mind that the carer they recommend and who you have chosen together, will have the relevant qualifications and experience to cater for your specific needs as well as having undergone an Enhanced DBS check and will have the right to work in the UK. If you have done your homework well and answered all those difficult questions, with hand on heart, your elderly care company should by now have found you the perfect carer and you can settle down to enjoy that boiled egg for breakfast with the hoover humming away busily in the background.