How to find the best UK live in care provider

What is live in care and how do you find the right choice of live in care provider for your needs?

This article will give you information about:

• What live in care is, who might need it and how it works.
• Live in care potential costs.
• Leading UK live in care providers.
• How to find the right live in care

What is live-in care?

Live-in care involves receiving personal care from a trained professional in your home. If you choose to have a live-in carer, they may live with you long term or for part of the time, in relation to your individual circumstances.

If you opt for a live-in carer, this means that there will be someone there when you need them to help with washing, dressing, cooking and any other activities you may need support with.

There is a difference between home care and live-in care. Home care is usually defined by a carer or various carers coming into your home to visit, perform personal care duties and other tasks related to individual support.

In contrast, live-in care usually involves a carer living with you around the clock. This is more than likely to be a rota of carers rather than just one carer all of the time.

Who might need live in care?

As people get a little older, there are a diverse range of conditions that may create a need for live-in care. You may decide that you need help with short term or long term conditions or that someone you love requires extra support at home, perhaps due to a personal issue or after an operation.

Support requirements can stretch from help with taking medications to companionship, support with preparing food or eating and mobility assistance. In addition, there may be other health conditions, such as memory impairments or dementia, that mean you need that little bit of extra help around the home.

When someone is living with dementia or a related memory condition, continuing to live in familiar environments where they feel happy and secure can make all the difference to their wellbeing. This is sometimes why families may opt for live-in care at home rather than a care home - so that their loved one can enjoy a reassuring home life for longer.

How does live-in care work?

Live in care should be tailored to the person who needs the care, providing the services that will help them live healthily and happily in their own home for as long as possible.

The majority of people looking for a live-in care provider will follow one of two pathways: either they will pay for private live-in care themselves or they may qualify for some help from their council and there will be some funded care made available.

If you’re considering live-in care, it may be worth consulting information provided by the NHS, which enables you to calculate if you could be eligible for social care funding support. If you are eligible, then the council will provide a personal budget and will make a care and support plan with you.

Live-in care companies can help you in the following ways:

• Medication provision
• Household and domestic tasks
• Support with washing and dressing
• Preparing meals, eating and drinking
• Emotional support and companionship
• Help getting out and about.

Most care providers have flexible packages so that, if you only need care part of the time, this can be accommodated. On the other hand, you may need more structured support and live-in care companies often have experienced health teams to help with diverse health circumstances.

How much does live-in care cost?

It’s tricky to give a definitive cost for live in care as it will vary from region to region and council to council around the UK. Age UK estimates live in care may cost around £15 per hour, but this will increase if it includes overnight and weekend hours. 

For weekly costs that include 24 hrs care continually, prices usually start at around £1,000 and can rise to £1,500 and above.

Use Autumna's easy search tool to find details of every live-in care provider in the UK, their prices and links to their websites. And why not try this live-in care article which gives more information about costs?

Additionally, this calculator tool can help you clarify the costs live in care could create for you, based on your personal circumstances and area where you live.

Leading UK live in care providers

Depending on where you live, your choice of live in care providers will vary from local live-in care providers like Kirsten's Care in Suffolk  for example, to national live in care companies like Agincare, Vita Cura, Radis, or Elder. 

Radis for example, provide services such as dementia care, housekeeping and complete care packages across England and Wales. In addition, Elder cover large swathes of England and also deliver full care packages across conditions and personal needs.

Your choice will also be guided by personal preference, as you may feel more comfortable with one provider in particular. It’s probably a good idea to meet with and talk to a variety of different providers so that you can discuss your personal situation and ensure you select the best service to cater for your specific requirements. 

How to find the right live-in care provider in my area?

You might not know where to start when it comes to searching for the ideal live in care provider in your area, however, when you visit the Autumna site, there is an easy to use search tool to help you with this.

You can search for your ideal live-in care agency by location/postcode or by their name if you know it.

In addition you can get a free shortlist of live-in care companies by filling in this quick and simple questionnaire.

Autumna will then automatically filter every provider in the UK to help you find the one that absolutely matches your needs.

Alternatively, email: info@autumna.co.uk or call the Autumna Advice Line on 01892 335 330. It's open Monday to Sunday (8:30am - 5:30pm Mon-Fri, 10am - 5pm Sat, 10am - 4pm Sun). Our team of later-life care experts will be happy to give you impartial, independent no-nonsense advice on the best way to go about finding care.