Your Frequently Asked Questions

All care workers that are employed with River Garden Care are fully vetted, trained and competent to undertake their responsibilities. In addition we strive to recruit care workers that share the same values and commitment to care as the rest of the team.

We ensure all of our care workers live locally and are a fair representation of the community in which we live. We uphold our policy of no discrimination either with our clients or our care staff.

You will have the same carer or carers each week. How many will depend on the number of visits we make each week and how many days this is over. If it is more than one person, they will always come on the same days and times, so you will always know who to expect.

We will talk to you during our assessment to find out the about the type of person you would like. If we don’t get this right immediately, we would ask you to be patient while we find a replacement. If your regular carer was on holiday or unwell, we would let you know who was coming in their place.

We understand that sometimes two people may not quite ‘hit it off’ with each other. If, after you have given the care worker a chance, they are not to your liking, please let us know and we will strive to find a suitable replacement.

Sometimes it may take a bit of time to find the right person but we will certainly do our best to ensure you are happy with every aspect of our service. We want you to feel relaxed and comfortable with your care worker.

We will meet with you at your home to find out about you and the kind of help and support you would like. This meeting is very important as it is where we get the information to write your care plan and detail the kind of help and support you would like.

There is no charge for this meeting. We welcome and encourage anybody you like to be present and support you during this meeting such as family and friends.

If you decide to go ahead with a service from us, we would be happy to approach a client to see if they would be willing talk to you, and if they were, would provide you with their telephone number so you could contact them.

We ask that you give us 24 hours’ notice by phoning the office and we will let the care worker know for you. If it is not possible to give 24 hours’ notice, we would have to charge for you for the call due to our obligations to the care worker.

If you would like to change the schedule for care visits please contact us as soon as possible so we can make the necessary arrangements.

Please call the office to let us know, and if it is possible write to us as well. You will need to give us at least 28 days of notice. You are more than welcome to come back to us at a future date if you wish and it would be our pleasure to serve you again.

Someone will always be available to answer your call and support you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Our office number automatically diverts to our on-call team so you have peace of mind knowing that we are available to help with any issues or concerns. The number to call will be in the folder that you keep at your home.

We understand how important it is that you feel that you can trust River Garden Care and our care workers. We have a very thorough recruitment process for all of our staff and everyone has to complete a police check (DBS) once all of our other recruitment processes are completed. No one will start work until this is all in place.

If at any point you would like to make any changes, we will meet with you to discuss these and ensure they are put into place. We will carry out regular reviews of your care and support needs to make sure that your care plan and level of support always reflect your needs and wishes.

Payment for care services received will be due every 2 weeks. We will send you an invoice before we collect payment so you know in advance the amount and date when payment is to be collected. These can be posted or sent by e mail if you prefer.

You are able to pay by Standing Order, Direct Debit, BACS transfer or cheque.

Currently, if you have savings of between £14,205 and £23,250 (2014/2015) then you will be eligible for some help with meeting the costs of your care. Any savings or income below the lower amount is disregarded for the purposes of the assessment. If your savings and income are above the upper level, you would be assessed as having no eligibility for help with meeting costs.
During this assessment, the officer should also check that you are in receipt of all the benefits you are entitled to and support you to claim for any you are not receiving.

The Care component of Disability Living Allowance is not counted in the assessment nor is the Attendance Allowance. Whether these benefits are awarded at the lower or higher rates will depend on the amount of help that you need.

If you are assessed as being eligible to receive fully or partially funded care from your Local Authority there will still be options available to you to enable you to have greater choice and control over the care you receive and who provides it.
You could request that this money be made available in the form of a Direct Payment. It may also be called an Individual Budget. This means that you will be given a sum of money to meet the cost of your care needs, which will be detailed in a support plan. You are then able to choose your care provider and have more control over how the money is used. If the payment falls short of what you feel you require either you or your family are able to top it up.
If you do not feel able to manage this yourself, you can get support from a person you trust, or ask the Local Authority to manage it for you. You could also ask to have the payment in the form of an Individual Service Fund which could then be held by the care provider you have chosen to manage on your behalf.

If you choose to manage your care needs through Direct Payments, this would also give you the choice of employing your own care worker (or Personal Assistant). If this was the option chosen, then you need to bear in mind that you would be that person’s employer and as such would be responsible for deducting income tax, paying the employers national Insurance contribution, ensuring that pay rates met Minimum Wage requirements, ensure holiday entitlements were met and paid and that Employers and Public liability insurance was in place. You would also need to manage the recruitment and any training needs of the person that you employed.
The final option to explore is Continuing Care Funding from the NHS. To qualify for this funding a person must have a complex medical condition and substantial and ongoing care needs and the main or primary need for care must relate to that health need.
There will be an initial screening to identify if a full assessment will be carried out to determine eligibility for this funding. If agreed, this is an ongoing package of care that is funded by the NHS.

NHS funding will sometimes be provided on discharge from hospital for a period of 6 weeks to provide a reablement package to help a person recover skills and independence that may have been lost during the time they were being treated and recovering.
Aids and adaptations such as grab rails and chair risers can be assessed for and provided free of charge in most cases. This process can be activated by a hospital or Social Services who will arrange for an Occupational therapist to visit and carry out an assessment.
Should your property be in need of more intense work to make it suitable then in some cases it may be possible to apply for a Disabled Facilities Grant, but eligibility for this is means tested.
If the only option is to fund care needs privately and to do so in the long term will mean having to sell your home when you would prefer to remain there, then there are some schemes that allow equity from the property to be released. If this was an option that you chose to investigate, it would be advisable to seek the support of an independent financial adviser.