What type of Care do I Need?
A residential care home is a care home of any size, which offers accommodation, meals and personal care. Some homes offer a homely environment while others offer a more hotel style service. It is important to choose the style of home in which you feel most comfortable. Staff in a residential care home can help you with washing, dressing, at meal times and going to the toilet. In a residential care home you will be cared for by suitably qualified or experienced staff. Staffs are likely to have NVQ 2 or 3 in Health & Social Care or be studying for one of the new Awards or Diplomas in Health and Social Care. Training in such areas as Moving & Handling, Infection Control, Health and Safety etc is renewed annually.
A nursing care home is similar to a residential care home and will also offer accommodation, meals and personal care. The difference between a nursing care home and a residential care home is that a nursing care home also offers 24-hour care by a qualified nurse who is registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (the professional registration body for nurses). Nurses must maintain their continued professional development (CPD) to maintain their registration and so regularly undertake refresher training.
Some care homes can offer both residential care and nursing care. At Gold Care Homes all our homes are suitable for people living with dementia with dementia qualified and experienced staff on duty 24 hours per day.
It’s important that you understand your own specific needs before choosing a care home – and although you may have a good idea of the sort of care you want, only a professional assessment will tell you what you actually need.
If you are entitled to financial help
If you think you’re entitled to help with paying for your care, first talk to your GP. They’ll refer you to your Local Authority, who will give you a ‘community care assessment’ and put together a ‘care plan’ outlining the care they think you’ll need. You will need this plan if you want your Local Authority to contribute towards the cost of your care.
What’s involved in a community care assessment varies depending on your circumstances. In some cases a single visit – called a ‘contact assessment’ - is all that is needed. In other cases this will be an initial assessment followed by further specialist assessments – for example if you need specialist medical or nursing care.
Once you have chosen the best Gold Care Homes’ home for you, the manager will do their own assessment to ensure that we can meet all your needs.
If you’re paying your own care home fees
If you know you’ll be paying for your own care, you don’t need to be assessed by your Local Authority. Once you have chosen the best Gold Care Homes’ nursing/care home for you, the home manager will assess you to make sure we can meet your needs.
