How to Choose a Home Care Provider: A Guide for Families
Updated: 5 days ago
Finding the right home care for yourself or someone close to you can feel daunting. There may be a lot to consider, particularly if support is needed with dementia, Parkinson’s, reduced mobility, a physical disability or a more complex health condition.
For families looking for home care in Abingdon, Oxford, Didcot, Witney and the surrounding areas of Oxfordshire, choosing a care provider is about much more than simply finding someone who is available.
You need to know that the people coming into your home will be kind, dependable and properly trained; that they will take the time to understand the person receiving care; and that the care can adapt as their needs change.
This guide explains what to look for, the questions to ask home care agencies and some of the checks you can make before choosing a home care provider.
Quick Answer
When choosing a home care agency, look beyond price and availability. Check that the provider is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), read its latest inspection report and ask about Care Worker recruitment, training, continuity, care planning, medication support, safeguarding and how concerns are dealt with.
Most importantly, consider whether the provider is genuinely interested in the person who will be receiving care. Good home care should be built around the individual's routines, preferences, abilities and wishes, rather than expecting the individual to fit around the care provider.
1. Start by Understanding What Support Is Needed
Before contacting home care providers, it helps to have a clear idea of what the person needs help with now and what may become more difficult in the future.
Consider areas such as:
Personal care, including washing, dressing and continence support
Getting in and out of bed safely
Mobility around the home
Preparing meals and drinks
Medication
Dementia or memory-related support
Companionship and social contact
Shopping and household tasks
Attending appointments or getting out of the house
Support following an illness, operation or hospital stay
Overnight support
More complex health or physical needs
Respite for a family member or unpaid carer
It is equally important to think about what the person can and wants to continue doing for themselves. Good care should support independence rather than unnecessarily taking over.
Where appropriate, involve the person who will receive care in these conversations from the beginning. Their routines, preferences, priorities and desired outcomes should be central to any care plan.
Under the Care Act 2014, a local authority assessment considers a person's care and support needs and the outcomes that matter to them. The Social Care Institute for Excellence provides further information about Care Act assessments and eligibility.
If you live in Oxfordshire and think you or your relative may be eligible for support from the local authority, you can also request an adult social care assessment through Oxfordshire County Council.
Who else might be able to help?
Depending on the circumstances, useful advice may come from:
Professional | They may be able to help with |
GP | Health conditions, medication and referrals |
Occupational Therapist | Equipment, transfers, mobility and making the home safer |
Physiotherapist | Strength, mobility and rehabilitation |
District Nurse | Clinical nursing needs in the home |
Social Worker | Care needs, support planning and access to local authority services |
Specialist clinical teams | Conditions such as Parkinson's disease, dementia, MS or stroke rehabilitation |
You do not necessarily need a formal assessment before arranging private home care. A good home care provider should carry out its own assessment before care begins so that it understands what support is required and how the person would like that support to be provided.
2. Research Home Care Providers Carefully
Once you understand the type of support required, start looking at providers that genuinely cover your area.
Oxfordshire County Council describes home care, also known as domiciliary care, as support provided by paid Care Workers visiting someone in their own home, helping them to continue living independently. Its care options information is a useful local starting point.
When comparing providers, consider:
Are they registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC)?
What does their latest CQC inspection report say?
How long has the provider been operating?
What training do their Care Workers receive?
How are Care Workers recruited and vetted?
Do they provide the particular type of care required?
Do they provide care in your town or village?
How do they maintain continuity of Care Workers?
What happens if the person's needs increase?
Are their charges clearly explained?
What do existing clients and families say about them?
Can you speak to someone when you have a question or concern?
Do not rely on a website alone. Speak to the provider and pay attention to the questions they ask you.
If the first conversation is mainly about how many hours you want to buy rather than about the person requiring care, their circumstances and what matters to them, that may tell you something about their approach.
3. Check the Provider's CQC Registration
Home care providers carrying out regulated personal care in England must be appropriately registered with the Care Quality Commission.
You can check a provider's registration and inspection history directly on the CQC website rather than relying solely on claims made in advertising.
For example, Chamomile Care's current CQC record shows an overall rating of Good. Our most recent inspection rated Chamomile Care Outstanding in Caring.
When reading a CQC report, do not look only at the overall rating. Read what inspectors actually found about:
Safety
Effectiveness
Caring
Responsiveness
Leadership and governance
The detail often tells you far more about how a service operates than the headline rating alone.
4. Ask About Care Worker Recruitment and Training
The quality of a home care service ultimately depends heavily on the people providing the care.
Ask the provider:
How do you recruit your Care Workers?
Good recruitment should consider values, attitude and suitability for care as well as previous experience.
Are your Care Workers DBS checked?
Ask whether appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service checks are carried out before staff provide care.
What training do Care Workers receive?
Depending on their role, training may cover areas including:
Safeguarding
Moving and handling
Medication
Infection prevention and control
Basic life support
Dementia
Health and safety
Food hygiene
The Care Certificate
Condition-specific or client-specific training
For more complex care, ask how the provider ensures the Care Worker is competent to undertake the particular tasks involved.
How do you assess Care Worker competency?
Training should not simply involve completing an online course. Providers should satisfy themselves that Care Workers can safely apply what they have learned in practice.
5. Ask About Continuity of Care
This is one of the most important questions to ask and one that can easily be overlooked.
How many different Care Workers are likely to visit?
There will always be occasions when another Care Worker is needed because of annual leave, sickness or other circumstances, but good home care should not feel like a succession of strangers coming through the door.
Continuity is particularly important for people living with dementia, Parkinson's disease, communication difficulties, anxiety or more complex needs.
Familiar Care Workers get to know:
How someone likes things done
Their normal routines
How they communicate
Their likes and dislikes
Their normal mobility and behaviour
What is usual for that individual
Subtle changes that might indicate something is wrong
At Chamomile Care, we place considerable importance on continuity. We believe care works best when people are supported by a small, familiar team who have the opportunity to get to know them properly.
6. Ask How Care Is Planned Around the Individual
A care plan should never simply be a list of tasks.
Ask:
How will you assess my needs?
Will I be involved in developing my care plan?
How do you record my preferences and routines?
How frequently will the care plan be reviewed?
What happens if my needs change?
Can my family be involved if I want them to be?
How will Care Workers know what is important to me?
A good care plan should cover not just what support is required, but how the person wants that support to be provided.
Two people may both require help getting dressed, for example, but that does not mean they want or need that support delivered in the same way.
Person-centred care means understanding the individual rather than defining them by their age, diagnosis or disability.
7. Ask About Visit Times and Reliability
A provider should be able to explain how visits are scheduled.
Useful questions include:
Will I know approximately what time my Care Worker is coming?
Will I usually have the same Care Workers?
What happens if a Care Worker is ill?
What happens if someone is running late?
How will I be informed?
Is there an out-of-hours number?
What happens if a Care Worker cannot attend?
For some visits, timing is particularly important. Medication, getting ready for bed or support with meals cannot always simply be moved several hours because it is more convenient for a rota.
Ask how the provider balances efficient scheduling with the needs and routines of the people receiving care.
8. Ask About Medication Support
If medication support is required, explain exactly what assistance the person needs.
There is an important difference between:
Reminding someone to take their medication
Assisting them with medication
Administering medication
Ask:
What medication support can you provide?
How is medication recorded?
How are Care Workers trained and assessed as competent?
What happens if medication is refused or missed?
What happens if a medication error occurs?
How do you communicate medication concerns?
The provider should have clear medication procedures and should assess the particular support required before care begins.
9. Ask About Safeguarding
Safeguarding is fundamental to home care.
Ask the provider:
How are Care Workers trained in safeguarding?
What happens if a Care Worker has a concern?
Who is responsible for safeguarding within the organisation?
How would you respond if I or my family raised a safeguarding concern?
Care Workers should understand how to recognise possible abuse, neglect, exploitation or self-neglect and know how to raise concerns appropriately.
A good provider should be comfortable answering safeguarding questions clearly rather than treating them as an uncomfortable subject.
10. Ask How Families Are Kept Informed
Where the person receiving care has agreed to family involvement, communication can make an enormous difference.
Ask:
Who should I contact if I have a question?
Will I have a named contact?
How will I know if something changes?
How are concerns raised by Care Workers communicated?
How will you contact us in an emergency?
Can family members contribute to care reviews?
At Chamomile Care, we believe communication should be straightforward. Families should know who they can speak to, and concerns should not disappear into a large organisation or call centre.
Naturally, information can only be shared with relatives where this is consistent with the individual's wishes, consent and applicable confidentiality requirements.
11. Ask What Happens When Needs Change
Care needs rarely remain exactly the same indefinitely.
Someone may initially need companionship or a little help around the home and later require personal care, medication support or additional visits.
Alternatively, someone recovering from illness or surgery may gradually need less support as their independence returns.
Ask the provider:
Can the care package increase or decrease?
How quickly can changes normally be made?
What happens if needs change suddenly?
How are changes assessed?
Do you provide the additional type of support that might eventually be required?
Flexible care should respond to the person rather than forcing the person to fit an inflexible care package.
12. Understand the Costs
Do not be afraid to ask detailed questions about charges.
You should understand:
The hourly rate
Whether shorter visits have different rates
Any minimum visit length
Bank Holiday charges
Mileage or transport charges
Cancellation charges
Notice periods
How often invoices are issued
How payment is collected
Whether the price includes travel time
Whether there are any other charges
Ask for this information in writing before care begins.
If care may be funded or partly funded by Oxfordshire County Council, the council provides information about paying for adult social care in Oxfordshire. Eligibility and the contribution someone may need to make depend on their circumstances and the relevant assessments.
13. Ask How Concerns and Complaints Are Handled
Even very good care organisations occasionally get something wrong.
What matters is how they respond.
Ask:
Who do I contact if there is a problem?
How quickly will you respond?
Do you have a formal complaints procedure?
Who can I speak to if the issue is not resolved?
How do you learn from complaints or incidents?
You should feel comfortable raising small concerns before they become bigger ones.
A provider that genuinely values its clients should welcome feedback, including when that feedback is critical.
14. Pay Attention to How the Provider Makes You Feel
Not everything can be established through paperwork.
When you speak to a prospective provider, consider:
Do they listen?
Are they interested in the person or primarily in selling care hours?
Do they answer questions openly?
Do they explain things clearly?
Are they willing to say when something is outside their expertise?
Do they ask about routines, preferences and independence?
Do they appear organised?
Do they understand the condition or circumstances involved?
Do you feel comfortable contacting them again?
Home care is personal.
You are inviting someone into a person's home and, frequently, asking them to provide support at moments when that person may be at their most vulnerable.
Trust matters.
Questions to Ask a Home Care Agency
If you are comparing providers, these are some of the most useful questions to take with you:
About the provider
Are you registered with the Care Quality Commission?
What was your most recent CQC rating?
How long have you been providing home care?
Which areas do you cover?
What types of care do you provide?
About Care Workers
How do you recruit your Care Workers?
Are they Enhanced DBS checked where appropriate?
What training do they receive?
How do you assess their competency?
Will we usually see the same Care Workers?
How are Care Workers matched with clients?
About the care itself
How will you assess the person's needs?
How will they be involved in their care plan?
How often is the care plan reviewed?
What happens if their needs change?
Can you support their particular condition?
Can visit times accommodate their normal routine?
About reliability
What happens if the usual Care Worker is unavailable?
What happens if someone is running late?
Who can we contact outside normal office hours?
How do you ensure visits are not missed?
About communication
Who will be our main point of contact?
How are families kept informed?
How do Care Workers report changes or concerns?
How quickly will somebody respond if we contact the office?
About charges
What will the care cost?
What does the price include?
Are Bank Holidays charged differently?
Are there additional mileage or travel charges?
What is your cancellation policy?
What notice is required to change or end the care package?
Choosing Home Care in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire County Council provides information about the different care options available to people who want support to remain at home, including home care and domiciliary care.
There is also local information and support available from Age UK Oxfordshire, an independent Oxfordshire charity supporting older people and unpaid carers.
If you are an unpaid carer yourself, Age UK Oxfordshire also provides a support service for unpaid carers in Oxfordshire.
How Chamomile Care Approaches Home Care
At Chamomile Care, we provide home care across Abingdon, Oxford, Didcot, Witney and surrounding communities in Oxfordshire.
Our starting point is always the individual.
We take the time to understand:
What help is needed
What the person can and wants to continue doing independently
Their routines and preferences
What is important to them
Their health and mobility
Any risks that need to be managed
How they prefer their care to be provided
Who they would like involved in decisions about their care
We place particular importance on continuity of care, because familiar Care Workers can build genuine relationships, recognise subtle changes and understand how each person likes to be supported.
Our Care Workers are carefully selected, appropriately checked, trained and supported. We provide care ranging from companionship and everyday support through to personal care, dementia care, Parkinson's support, palliative care and more complex needs.
Chamomile Care is registered with the Care Quality Commission and is currently rated Good overall, with Outstanding for Caring at our most recent inspection.
We believe excellent home care should feel exactly that: care at home. It should fit naturally around the person's life, protect their dignity and independence, and give both the individual and their family confidence in the people supporting them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I look for when choosing a home care agency?
Check that the provider is appropriately registered with the CQC, read its latest inspection report and ask about recruitment, training, Care Worker continuity, safeguarding, medication, care planning, reliability and communication.
Just as importantly, speak to the provider. The way they talk to you, and the questions they ask about the person needing care, can tell you a great deal about how person-centred their service really is.
Should home care agencies carry out an assessment before care starts?
Yes. A provider should understand the person's needs, abilities, preferences, routines and any relevant risks before agreeing how care will be provided.
The assessment should inform an individual care plan and should involve the person receiving care wherever possible.
Will we always have the same Care Worker?
It is unrealistic for any provider to guarantee that one individual Care Worker will attend every visit because of holidays, sickness and other absences.
However, it is entirely reasonable to ask how the provider manages continuity of care and how many different Care Workers are likely to be involved.
At Chamomile Care, we aim to provide a small and familiar team wherever possible.
How can I check whether a home care agency is properly regulated?
Home care providers carrying out regulated personal care in England can be checked through the Care Quality Commission.
Look at both the provider's registration and its latest inspection report rather than relying solely on information displayed on the provider's own website.
Can home care change if someone's needs increase?
It should be able to.
A good provider will review care periodically and also when circumstances change. They'll then discuss whether visit lengths, frequency or the type of support needs to be altered.
It is worth asking at the outset whether the provider can offer a wider range of care should more support eventually be required.
How quickly can home care start?
This depends on the amount and type of care required, the person's location and the provider's current capacity.
A responsible provider should not accept care simply because it has been asked to. It should first establish that it has suitably trained Care Workers available and can provide the care safely and reliably.
Can I arrange home care privately without going through Oxfordshire County Council?
Yes. People can arrange and pay for their own home care directly with a provider.
If you think you may be eligible for financial assistance or support from Oxfordshire County Council, you can also ask the council for an assessment of your care and support needs.
Talk to Chamomile Care
If you are looking for home care in Abingdon, Oxford, Didcot, Witney or the surrounding areas, you are very welcome to speak to us.
There is no obligation to arrange care simply because you contact us.
We can talk through what is happening, what help you think may be needed and whether Chamomile Care is the right provider for you.
If we believe we can help, the next step is to understand the person properly and agree care that fits around their life, their preferences and their needs.
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