Live-in Care Questions
About our Carers
Where do your carers come from?
The self-employed carers we work with come from the UK and abroad, united by a shared passion for delivering exceptional, personalised live-in care.
How do you recruit your carers?
Any self-employed carer that wants to work with Country Care must go through a meticulous selection process. Candidates are chosen based on specific skills, experience, and reliability. We undertake a comprehensive vetting process that includes verifying identities, checking references, conducting interviews, and performing Enhanced DBS checks.
We know that personality matters and that is why we assess a carer’s interests and lifestyle preferences to ensure we match them with the right client. Questions about cooking abilities, driving skills, assignment length preferences, and location preferences are all part of our comprehensive assessment.
What training do the carers have?
The carers we work with undergo an in-depth interview and before being introduced to their clients by Country Care. All the carers we work with are trained in safeguarding of vulnerable adults, moving and handling, plus basic life support, either by our in-house training programme, or through an accredited external provider. Many have a broader range of skills and experience in specialisms such as dementia or physical disability support. This training shows how carers can meet the expectations of their clients, while delivering an efficient, flexible service, considering individual requirements and preferences.
Can the Carers Cook?
The care you receive from the carer will be tailored to your holistic needs, so if you need a carer who can cook, we will ensure that you are matched with a carer who has experience of cooking.
All our carers can cook nutritious, balanced meals. Carers will be more than happy to cook dishes tailored to your preferences, however if they are unfamiliar to them, they may require a recipe!
Setting up live-in care
How does Live-in Care Work?
- Speak with one of our friendly and helpful Client Service Advisors. Their role is to explore your situation to better understand what service might be right and offer solutions and support.
- Once you have registered with us, your dedicated Care Relationship Executive will be in contact to introduce themselves and to get a better understanding of what you are looking for. They will then begin to look for a suitably matched carer to start on your chosen start date.
- The chosen live-in carer will move into the individual’s home and typically reside there for the agreed length of time, where the carer will have their own designated space within the home to ensure privacy and comfort when off-duty. We endeavour to build a rotation of two to four carers to return on a regular basis to ensure continuity in the care being delivered.
- The carer will carry out the tasks outlined in the client profile. This can include personal care, prompting of medication, companionship, mobility support, meal preparation, light housekeeping, and any other identified needs. The carer provides individualised attention and assistance, focusing on the well-being and comfort of the individual.
- Regular phone calls will be made to the client, their representatives, and the carers. We will keep the client’s profile up to date to ensure that the level of care remains appropriate and that we continue to match the best suited carers.
How soon can you start?
Providing all paperwork is completed in time, we can have a carer in place in as little as 24 hours.
How long will the registration take?
The Registration process can take up to 45 minutes depending on the nature of the care needs. The registration meeting can take place on the telephone with one of our friendly Client Services Advisors.
Will I have a choice of carer?
You will have a say in choosing your live-in carer. Our meticulous selection process aims to effectively match you with a carer well-suited to your needs and preferences. After finalising our choice, one of our Client Relationship Executives will call you to introduce the carer and arrange for the carer to call you to introduce themselves. If you are satisfied with our selection, we will schedule the carer’s arrival based on your preferred date. Should you wish to explore other options, we are more than happy to restart the matching process.
Can I see a carer profile?
Once we have selected a carer we think is suitable to you, your needs and situation, we will send you their profile. We take great care in matching the right carer for you, so it is best to wait until we have a carer who matches, but who is also available to start when you choose.
What facilities does the live-in carer need?
Your carer must be given their own bedroom and somewhere to keep their clothes and belongings. Clients sometimes provide a television and an armchair in the carer’s room, and this is appreciated, but we accept that it is not always possible.
Sufficient food should be provided for three healthy meals a day, for both client and carer. You should discuss both your dietary requirements and preferred mealtimes, and those of the carer. If your carer has special dietary requirements, we suggest that they purchase any “special” provisions before the assignment. You will need to agree this with them. Clients quite often want to be involved in decisions about the preparation and serving of meals, whilst others like the carer to take over – it’s best to make this position clear at the beginning of each assignment. Our carers can prepare meals for the client(s) they are looking after; should additional family members, or guests, wish to have food prepared then this needs to be agreed with the carer in advance.