What personal care includes
Personal care is help with looking after yourself: the everyday routines most of us never think about until they become difficult. It's the regulated activity we register with the Care Quality Commission to provide, and the heart of what we do.
- Washing, bathing and showering, including a strip wash at the sink if that suits you better.
- Getting up and going to bed: help getting out of bed, dressed and ready for the day, and settled comfortably at night.
- Continence care and toileting, handled calmly and privately.
- Shaving, hair, nails and oral care.
- Skin care, including applying prescribed creams and watching for early signs of soreness.
- Moving around safely, using any walking aids or equipment set out in your care plan.
Done your way
Before anything starts, our manager visits you at home and asks how you like things done: bath or shower, morning or evening, which jumper with which trousers, and what makes you feel most yourself. It all goes into your care plan, so every carer who visits follows it.
You can tell us if you'd prefer a male or female carer for personal care, and we'll always do our best to arrange it. Carers ask before they help, explain what they're doing, and leave you to do as much as you'd like for yourself.
The same few faces
Personal care is easier with someone you know. Each person has a small, regular team of carers rather than a different face every day, and we introduce anyone new before their first visit. Our rounds are kept short, so carers arrive when they say they will and don't have to rush off.
Time to do it properly
Our shortest personal care visit is 30 minutes. We don't do 15-minute calls for personal care, because there isn't time to help someone wash and dress with dignity in a quarter of an hour. If your visit needs longer, we'll say so and change the plan with you.
Trained, checked and supported
Every carer has an enhanced DBS check, references and right-to-work checks before they start. New carers complete the Care Certificate, plus training in moving and handling, infection prevention, safeguarding and first aid, and they shadow experienced colleagues before visiting on their own.
What it costs
Personal care is charged by the hour, in the same way as all our visits. Our rates for weekdays, evenings, weekends and bank holidays are on our fees and funding page, along with the help that's available with paying.
