Care at home - the best option for later life

The recently published annual report, ‘The state of health care and adult social care in England’, produced by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), clearly indicated that home care agencies were providing a better quality of service than either care or nursing homes.

The CQC report, based on the findings of its inspection teams over the past year, found that 73% of home care agencies were fully compliant with care and welfare standards. This compares to 68% for care homes and just 51% in the case of nursing homes. Furthermore, domiciliary care agencies only raised major concerns in 3% of inspections as opposed to 5% in care homes and 10% in nursing homes.

Care provided at home also came out top in virtually every category as providing a higher quality of service for people requiring care. These categories included the management of health, welfare and safety, management of medicines, cleanliness and hygiene and meeting nutritional needs.

Perhaps the report’s most telling finding was on the respect and the involvement of people who use the service where home care agencies scored a 90% compliance rating as opposed to 85% for care home and just 70% for nursing homes.

The findings confirm the Good Care Group’s strongly held belief that care at home provides a superior standard of living assistance. Special services such as cooking, tailored to individual tastes, and care of pets are easier to offer at home with live-in care making for a greater feeling of wellbeing and ultimately a better quality of life.