Choosing a Care Agency
You should check to make sure an agency is registered with the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and are members of professional associations. All domiciliary care agencies that supply care workers to help with personal care tasks must be registered with CSCI.
The CSCI can be contacted on 0845 015 0120. Click here for their website.
Choosing care can be difficult but can be made easier with the right information. There are many places you can contact to get this information, such as the County Council (ring Somerset Direct: 0845 345 9133), your doctor or your local Citizens Advice Bureau. See useful contacts section for details on local CAB offices. You could contact the UK Home Care Association (UKHCA) on 020 8288 1551 or the Elderly Accommodation Counsel on 020 78201343.
If you have a brochure from an agency, but you cannot see the type of care you want listed, ask if they can provide the service.
You might want to ask the agency some questions about the service they offer and what you can expect as a customer - click here for a list of questions you might want to think about. You might have questions of your own too.
Some domiciliary care agencies recruit and place live-in companions and daily or longer-term care workers. Some care workers will not do more than light household duties. Heavy washing, ironing and cleaning may have to be done by someone else so it is important to check with the agency to find out if there are things their care workers will not be able to help you with.
Many agencies operate a rota system with the carers working for a period of one or two weeks or a month and then changing over in a planned way to another carer. This is so that people can have help from a team of staff they know and who understand about their care needs.
