Residential care

Contents

1. Overview
2. Choosing the right care
3. How to pick the right care home
4. Paying for care
5. Out of borough care homes
6. Residential home providers

Overview

Residential homes are places for people (typically older people) who are unable to live independently at home and need help with personal care.

Types of residential homes

There are two types of residential homes:

• Care homes who have trained staff offering the kind of care a person would get from family, friends or a home care provider in their own home.
• Nursing homes who provide the same care as care homes but also have trained nurses to provide care when people need it.

These homes are staffed 24 hours a day with support available at any time of the day.

Choosing the right care

We want people to live in the place they call home with the people and things that they love.

We do this through recommending things such as equipment, assistive technology and home care to help people live independently in their own home.

Some people may not be able to get the level of support they need by staying in their own home. Residential care might be the right option if you or the person you care for:

• is struggling to live at home, even with support such as home care
• has had a conversation (assessment) with a social worker where it was suggested that care home is the best option
• have a complex medical condition that needs attention both day and night

How to pick the right care home

You should start by having a conversation (care needs assessment). This is done by our social work staff and involves a social worker having a conversation with you. This will give you more information about the care you need and what support would be best for you.

Even if you think you are going to be responsible for paying for your own care, you have a right to assessment.

For more information on choosing the right care home, see Independent Age.

For local care homes, see our list of residential care providers.

All care homes are registered, reviewed and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Each care home after inspection is given a rating:

• Outstanding: performing exceptionally well
• Good: performing well and meeting expectations
• Requires Improvement: isn't performing as well as it should and has been told to improve
• Inadequate: performing badly and action has been taken against the provider
• No rating / under appeal / rating suspended: some services can't be reviewed or might be under appeal from the provider. Suspended ratings are being reviewed by CQC and will be published once resolved.

You can search each care home you're interested in to see how it has been rated.

Paying for a care home                 

When you move into a residential care home, you need to pay to live there. How much you will have to pay towards your care is decided using a financial assessment. For more information, see paying for residential care.

Sometimes care homes add an extra fee for certain rooms on top of standard costs. We do not cover this fee and you would be expected to pay for this.

If you are paying for your own residential care, see paying for your own care.

Out of borough care homes

Some people choose to go into a care home that is out of borough and not in their local area.

You can move to any care home in the UK after your care needs and financial assessment with Adult Social Care.

For more information on moving to a care home that is out of borough, please talk to the professional involved with you or contact the Let's Talk Team.

Residential home providers

There are a number of local residential home providers which you can view to see what the best fit is: