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Home Care in Northumberland

Home care services project

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Home care services in Northumberland – help people to share their experience

We are looking for someone to carry out a focused project which will gather the experiences of people who receive paid for home care services in the county. The document below sets out the rationale and application process for those interested in carrying out this work.

The project fee is £5,000 and the deadline for applications is 17 May 2021. The work is to be carried out from mid-June to September 2021.

For an informal pre application discussion please contact Derry Nugent, Project Coordinator Healthwatch Northumberland, email: derryn@healthwatchnorthumberland.co.uk or call: 07590 880016.

Contract purpose and focus

In 2018/19 Healthwatch Northumberland worked with Carers Northumberland to gather the experiences of people using home care services and that of their family carers. It was led by a group of family carers in the Coquet Valley where, at the time, there were major challenges in providing home care services. Northumberland County Council Adult Social Care managers welcomed the final report and they said they would be interested to hear from people in other areas of the county. This project will gather those experiences.

The pandemic has given further reason to revisit the study. A recent national report by the National Institute for Health Research highlighted that people receiving paid for care and people who were providing unpaid care (carers) were having to make decisions about continuing with paid for care and using other services during the pandemic based on the risks involved in different people entering their homes and
lack of PPE.

Respondents to the Carers Northumberland Annual Survey also reported a reduction in home care and enabling services during the pandemic. Overall we want to know what has worked well and people would like to see happen to services in the future.

Full details: Understanding the experience of people using Home Care Services in Northumberland Project

 

 

Older lady with carer

Carewatch Home Care

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Northumberland County Council and Carewatch, a contracted provider of home care services, have agreed that the current contract will transfer to Age UK, by the 18th December 2017.

Northumberland County Council, Age UK Northumberland and Carewatch are working to make this transfer as smooth as possible for people receiving services.

If you experience any problems with your care, or would like to speak to a social worker or care manager about any concerns you have about the transfer, please contact them through Northumberland County Council’s single point of access, telephone: 01670 536400.

If you need an urgent response out of hours please call: 01670 827100. This number is available 24 hours a day/seven days per week.

Elderly man drinking tea

Home care services: what people told Healthwatch

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Over the last year, the number of local Healthwatch citing improvements to home care services as a priority for their community has doubled. Our new report explains what people have told Healthwatch about their experience of home care.

Across England there are more than 5,500 home care providers, collectively helping an estimated 673,000 people to continue living independently within their communities. Home care services help people live at home for longer by offering support, such as regular visits from a carer to help with personal care, getting dressed, using the toilet, shopping and preparing meals.

A new Healthwatch England report Home care services: What people told Healthwatch about their experiences, analyses the experiences of 3,415 people, their families and front line staff across 52 local areas between August 2015 and June 2017.

Most people had positive things to say about their home care. These services are invaluable to many people, both for the quality of care provided and the support and company of care workers.

Older people in particular said that one of the most positive things about home care is that it enables them to remain in their own home and to maintain as much independence as possible.

However,  four areas were discovered where people’s experiences could be improved.

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