My care at home: people's experiences of home care services in Waveney
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Healthwatch Suffolk undertook research to explore people’s experiences of receiving and providing home care services in Suffolk. This report explores the experiences of people in Waveney They heard from 249 people.
The largest proportion of people (71%) reported difficulties with their mobility. This was followed by 50% who said they had a physical disability and 39% with a long-term illness
Over half had been with their care provider for over a year
Over three in ten received four or more care visits a day (the highest proportion).
Most respondents said their service had talked to them about the care they needed, and there was a record of it
Positively, most respondents felt each statement based on aspects of care identified by regulators in England as being indicators of good home care provision applied to all of their carers.
Carers were described as ‘kind’, ‘professionals’, ‘polite’, ‘attentive’, ‘hard-working’, and ‘friendly’. Respondents frequently expressed that their carers created an environment where they felt ‘comfortable’, ‘respected’, ‘supported’, and ‘happy’. Furthermore, most respondents indicated that the care they received consistently ‘met their needs’, was ‘fantastic’, and deemed as ‘very good’. A noteworthy aspect highlighted by many was that carers often engaged in conversations and asked if they needed anything else.
88% said they knew how to raise a concern or complaint about their care.
Half indicated that not all of their carers arrived at times that worked for them, or that they have requested.
Almost two in five said they were kept informed about changes to how their care would be delivered ‘all of the time’.
Almost a quarter had experienced a missed visit in the last year.
People wanted cares to abide by the care plan, longer or more visits, being kept up to date with changes to the rota, better staff training, a choice of care times, more carers and carers being given more time to travel, regular carers and other topics.