Home Instead (Cambridge)

Invaluable help in the last few years of my husband's life, now giving me help due to my failing sight diminishing mobility. Excellent organisation, perfect time keeping and record keeping.

Regular caregivers provide outstandingly good service and are willing to do whatever needs doing - in a cheerful manner. I cannot imagine a more helpful and satisfactory service. The organisation is responsive to changes in my requirements. Home Instead service enables me to live at home and gives my family peace of mind.

Home Instead provided really good care for my father with early dementia. They were keen to get to know him and find carers that worked best for him. The carers were kind, reliable and showed lots of respect for my father. They were good at problem-solving and spotting the things that as a family we needed to know. The office staff were very responsive and communicated well with us.

My 98 yr old aunt, suffering from dementia, was reluctant to have care, but within a short time, she was accepting the caregivers as friends. This has enabled her to stay in her own home for 3 yrs. Sadly she had a fall and had to have a spell in hospital which has led on to being transferred to a care home. I live 150 miles away from my aunt. Home Instead has given me peace of mind that she was being cared for particularly during the lockdowns. Home Instead has kept me informed of her progress and needs.

The sole reason for stopping the use of Home Instead is that my father has now moved into a supported living facility.

The app too is a brilliant way of keeping informed. It certainly puzzled Mum when I could comment about what had happened that day!

Home Instead provided my mother with a flexible and caring service. My mother was at the end of her life, a change which came quickly, and Home Instead rose immediately to the challenge of changing from a three times daily single person visit to a four times daily double person visit to provide her with care for her final two weeks. Before this time the quality of care was excellent in terms of daily personal care and ensuring her meals were heated and served and medication given. The care was respectful and supportive. The use of an App to record tasks and their completion helped me to keep in touch and alerted me within minutes of a visit to any potential problems. The staff at base kept in regular contact with me and were flexible and prompt when tasks/medication needed to be changed. Management took care to underestand our needs and preferences for carer style. All in all an excellent service and one I would use again should I need to.

The only slightly negative comments which I feel I should pass on would be the difference in capabilities of some of the caregivers; ie some choosing to prepare ready-made meals rather than cooking from fresh, some stripping the bed sheets regularly and washing, rather than leaving marked, and some more able to take on aspects of personal hygiene. However, each caregiver had their own strengths.

Stability and continuity of carers were good, enabling my mother to be reassured that she knew the people visiting her.

Home Instead offered a very professional but caring service. They were very sympathetic about my friend’s needs and made good suggestions for ways in which she could be helped.

I find my helper coming in extremely helpful and efficient. They shower me and dress me and do odd jobs around the place as and when needed with very little help from me. They fill up the hour with ease. A very satisfactory visit.

We had two hours of support twice a week to enable us to have a break as Mum has dementia. This was a lifeline to us and enabled me and my husband to go out and spend time together on a regular basis. We also, used the overnight care facility which enabled us to go on holiday using our regular caregiver for which we were very grateful. Due to Mum's condition, we requested the same caregiver every week, which Home Instead we're able to do and this made such a difference as they were able to build a relationship. We were very impressed with the service.

The caregivers were polite, courteous and professional. They went the "extra mile" on more than one occasion. At each review about the care, changes in provision were acted upon such that all care was well done. Given travelling times (across a busy city) arrivals were as punctual as possible. The log used each day provided the family with insight into trends in mum's ongoing conditions and noted any items such as "lack of appetite" etc. A well-executed service, fully recommended.

Management were kind and understanding. Caregivers were excellent in engaging my husband's interest and were always patient, cheerful and kind.

Excellent care staff at all times. The office always polite and helpful but not as well informed as in previous years. Check on care staff - rarely when with client.

My carer was superb - did everything very well. Fear not...the crew was superb.

What can I say the care received from Home Instead has been outstanding. Always punctual, very professional. All the carers had excellent training. They had a great rapport with my dad over the years. It was a great comfort to myself as my father had live in care which was quite often changed carers. So having constant pop in care who could see if my dad was happy was a life changer for me. Home Instead really found some lovely people for my father to be with every day.

Over the past 6 years Home Instead Senior Care (Cambridge) has been an amazing support to my mother. They gave us the peace of mind that when the carers had any concerns they would contact us immediately. This enabled us to function normally as a family and Mum to stay independent and safe in the comfort of her own home until the last week of her 99 years! When it was necessary to increase the number of visits and care this has been fully accommodated without any trouble. The overall professionalism has always been at the forefront of their efficient and reliable service.

My parents want to remain living together at home regardless of their physical and cognitive challenges, so having male and female carers to support them is essential. Selecting carers best suited to their personalities has enabled mum and dad to retain control during the process of developing trust and adjusting to having people in their home. It hasn't been easy, but the success is due to the ethos and professionalism of the company (continuity and calibre of carers and responsiveness of managers). Confirmation of this includes my father saying "I feel good....we are lucky to have people like X (male carer) taking care of us" after having enjoyed a hair cut and wet shave, with my mum agreeing that "all the carers are lovely" describing humour and mutually affectionate relationships expressed in the course of visits. One hour visits enable unhurried person-centred care which affords my parents dignity and respect. The quality of the service is, therefore, excellent value for money.

Last August my mother of 97 broke her hip and then had five stays in hospital before she died in February. When at home she was provided with reablement carers who were very good but the time they came varied as did the carers. When we had paid carers from Home Instead they came at an agreed time and stayed for a full hour and most weekdays one particular carer came and a small number of others covering weekends and the odd weekday. These three factors made morning much more relaxed bot for my mother and for the rest of the family.