Industry Insight

A collection of 24 posts

Collaboration

Post 67...Balancing Care Quality and Cost Efficiency as a Specialist Homecare Provider

The UK’s care system has undergone a significant shift towards home care in recent years, aligning with the push for people to receive treatment and support closer to home. As British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak highlighted, "not everybody needs to be in the hospital – they would prefer to

Dementia Care

Post No 66...What is a DoLS, and how do they work in care homes?

Introduction A Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) is used by both hospitals and care homes if a person is being deprived of their liberty by being in that setting. The applications are put in by either care home or hospital staff, they are not completed by family members and do

Collaboration

Post No65...How Home Care Can Help Seniors Maintain Independence

This article has kindly been written by Trinity Homecare for the readers of The Care Whisperer. I would like to thank them for the time they have given to present this informative article about such an important topic. The Role of Home Care in Maintaining Independence for Seniors As people

Finance

Post No61...How does Social Services funding work in care homes?

In some European countries, each person funds their care placement through the tax system; essentially, when they require a care home, they move straight in because the placement has already been paid for during their working life. Unfortunately, in the UK, things are slightly more complicated than that…. This post

Finance

Post No60...What happens if you run out of money to pay for a care home? A 2024 update

Introduction: This is, and probably always will be, a massive question that families wrestle with when choosing a care home placement. Care fees have increased quite dramatically in 23 / 24, but so too has the cost of care provision (the break even point), largely because of the cost-of-living crisis. In

Industry Insight

Post No 53…Hospital discharging; the convalescent journey

Introduction Respite care in care homes is useful for a range of reasons, including regular breaks for carers, as a trial, or perhaps on a convalescent basis. Convalescent care is very common, because being medically fit to leave the hospital is not the same thing as being ready to return

Video

Post No45...VIDEO What type of care needs are considered nursing care?

This short video discusses some of the tipping points that care homes may consider to be nursing care needs. These tipping points can be broken down into two areas; the first is a care provision that must be done by a nurse, like an insulin injection, or a collection of

Common Questions

Post No43…Dementia care, will I have to move my loved one?

Introduction When it comes to finding a dementia care placement in a care home, there are often many things that concern families. Of these many things, the main areas of concern often centre around the possibility that their loved one may have to, at some point, move out of the

Industry Insight

Post No40…Independent living Vs care homes – how are they different?

Introduction With more options in the care sector now available to people, it’s always a good idea to evaluate the market before making a big decision, and choosing between independent living and a care home is no different. This post is going to look at how the two differ

Common Questions

Post No38…what to expect from the first few days / weeks in a care home

Introduction The move into a care home is often a challenging and emotional time for families, both during the research stage and subsequent assessment stage, right through to the person being admitted and moving to the settling in stage. The settling in stage is the theme for this post, it

Carers

Post No32…3 important reasons why carers seek respite care

Introduction Respite care is a vital service for carers, it gives people the chance to take breaks and revitalise, both of which are of great importance to the carer and the person they care for. In this post, I want to look at the three main reasons why people seek

Finance

Post No30…The BIG question ‘what happens when the money runs out?’

Introduction Now then, this is a very important question, and one that is on the mind of almost all who are seeking a care home placement. In this post, I want to look at the threshold for exactly when someone becomes able to access support from the local authority, and

Industry Insight

Post No29...What type of care needs are considered nursing care?

Introduction When they are seeking a care placement, families are often left unsure what constitutes nursing care, although they may have been advised to look for nursing care by a Social Worker or by a hospital. Nursing care is subjective and will vary from one care provider to another, but

Industry Insight

Post No27…Powers of Attorney, and ways they can affect a care home placement

Introduction Powers of Attorney are important in many different circumstances, and can offer families peace of mind knowing that decisions can be made, if necessary, in their loved one’s best interest. I have witnessed, in my time, some more unfortunate cases where the family are seeking a care placement

Infographic

Post No24...Care Needs Assessments - Infographic

For the full post explaining the assessment process in more detail, please click here. This infographic explains the reason care needs assessments are completed by care homes, the possible outcomes, and how they are completed. It is useful for anyone who is unsure about this process and is considering a

Industry Insight

Post No23…Explaining Care Needs Assessments in care homes

Introduction The care needs assessment is an important and pivotal part of the process when moving into a care home. Admissions into a care home seldom happen without them, and they go on to form the foundations of the new resident’s initial care plan. In the winter, particularly around

Dementia Care

Post No22…Why Memory Cafés Matter

Introduction For many years, memory cafes have provided a safe, informative, and social place for people living with dementia and their carers. They were, however, like many other important community projects, a casualty of Covid, and some are finding it tough to recover. What Covid did show us is that

Industry Insight

Post No21…Discharging elderly patients from hospital into a care home

It is a very common scenario for an elderly person to be discharged from a hospital into a care home. This could be on a convalescent basis, enabling the person to recover their strength before going back home, or it can be for long term care. Either way this often

Finance

Post No19…Explaining NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) Funding, and how it affects a care placement.

Introduction When seeking a care placement, many people come across the phrases CHC, continuing healthcare, FNC etc, and other forms of jargon that are often left unexplained. This post therefore breaks down what NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding is, how it is different from Funded Nursing Care (FNC) and how

Topical Content

Post No18...Winter Pressures in hospitals – why avoiding hospitals is important for the elderly.

Introduction: Before getting going on this post, it is worth noting how much the NHS and its staff do for us as a nation. The staff heroically work long hours in challenging conditions, with more needing to be done to support them at government level. Anyway, rant over… At this

Industry Insight

Post No10...Moving a loved one into a carehome: A Four Step Guide

Introduction When it comes to choosing a care home, most families are unfamiliar with the process. As discussed in my very first post This Is New to Me, many families also have uncertainties about what they need to do once a care home has been selected. This post has been

Common Questions

Post No5…3 things families say to a loved one, when they don’t know what to say

Introduction: Deciding to look into care for a loved one is an extremely difficult decision, and knowing what to say to them about it is even harder. As a result, a number of families often ask me what the best approach is, or ask what other people might have said.

Industry Insight

Post No3…5 Differences Between Purpose Built and Converted Care Homes

Introduction: After previously writing about the difference between nursing homes and residential homes it seemed a good idea to discuss this particular topic further. It’s always worth looking at both when seeking a potential care placement, which is why I wanted to write about the 5 key differences between

Industry Insight

Post No2...Residential Homes Vs Nursing Homes, What's the Difference?

So, here we go, blog post number 2. I thought I’d follow on from the starting point ‘this is new to me’ with this one because, like the last, it is a very common topic that often comes up in conversation. For the infographic version of this topic, please