News from our partners: How is home care working in Shropshire?

News from our partners Healthwatch Shropshire

Home care (also known as domiciliary care) is often seen as the ‘frontline’ of social care delivery, and is critical to the longstanding intention to enable people to ‘age in place’ and to deliver care as close as possible to people’s homes.

In 2015, more than 350,000 older people in England were estimated to use home care services, and a further 76,300 younger people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities or mental health problems were also estimated to be using publicly funded home care.[1]

Healthwatch Shropshire, the local health and social care consumer champion, is asking those receiving home care in Shropshire to tell them about their experiences.

Lynn Cawley, Chief Officer of Healthwatch Shropshire, said:-

“Provision of home care comes with its challenges, particularly in rural areas. We would like to know about the service users experiences across Shropshire. We hope to build a picture of how care at home works in Shropshire, identifying good practice and if there is anything that could be improved.

“We have an online survey, https://www.healthwatchshropshire.co.uk/home-care-questionnaire, for people to use or they can contact us directly on enquiries@healthwatchshropshire.co.uk or 01743 237884.”

Healthwatch Shropshire is the independent consumer champion for health and social care in Shropshire. It gathers the views and experiences of patients, service users, carers, and the general public about services including hospitals, GPs, mental health services, community health services, pharmacists, opticians, residential care and children’s services. It also has statutory powers that it can use to influence service provision by encouraging improvements.

Further information 

Healthwatch Shropshire is one of a network of 148 Local Healthwatch in England. It is supported by a national organisation, Healthwatch England.

It has a team working in community engagement, plus a volunteer programme, a visit programme to health and social care premises and an associate membership scheme to involve the public in its work.  It also has a signposting service to help people access health and social care services and support.

Healthwatch Shropshire also provides the Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Service (IHCAS) for Shropshire. The IHCAS service provides information, advice and, if necessary, can support people through the NHS complaints process.

[1] ‘Home care in England: Views from commissioners and providers’, The Kings Fund, December 2018. https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-12/Home-care-in-England-report.pdf