Home Care

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What is Home Care?

Home Care Services, also known as home support, home help, domiciliary care or care at home, provide care and support to individuals in the comfort of their own home. The aim of Home Care is to support people to live as independently as possible in their own home and receive care that meets their assessed needs. People using the service will be supported to feel physically and emotionally safe in their home and community. Many people prefer a Home Care service as an alternative to moving into a care home.

Home Care involves having someone come into your home and provide help with a range of care needs, which included assistance with personal care such as:

• Personal hygiene, such as washing, dressing and toileting
• oral health care
• medication
• eating and drinking
• preparing special diets

Or more specialised home care tasks such as:

• assistance with catheter care
• assistance with specialised feeding
• assistance with stoma care

Practical support can be provided as part of a combined care package with personal care, to meet essential daily living needs.

Practical support can include:

• essential shopping
• collecting your pension
• laundry or essential hygiene cleaning

Home Care can usually be a flexible arrangement and you may only need a small amount of support. The Home Care Service may be on a temporary, occasional, or long-term basis and can be available during the day, at night, over weekends, or different days of the week.

How do I know if I need Home Care?

For some people, daily living tasks have become difficult. Home Care can provide care and support, including helping people with dressing, personal care and practical support at home.

If you need assistance with either of these then you may benefit from Home Care.

How do I arrange a Home Care service?

You can contact home care providers directly for help in order to arrange your own Home Care Service or you can contact Health and Social Care Connect to request an assessment of your care needs. You will be advised of the criteria for care at home services and any cost implications - certain services may be subject to a charge based on your income. If you meet the criteria, an assessor from Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership will meet with you and your representative to discuss your care needs.

If you are a hospital in-patient, you may be referred for Care at Home Services by ward staff.

You can contact Health and Social Care Connect to find out more about how to get a Care at Home service, or read our eligibility criteria (PDF, 50 KB) and paying for your services (also called client contribution). You can also find home care providers. 

Who is eligible for Care at Home services

People of all ages can receive care at home. You may be eligible if you:

• need help with personal care and practical support to live independently
• have increasing frailty or dementia
• are ill and living at home
• have a disability or sensory impairment, mental health problems or substance misuse problems

You, your family or carer can ask a social worker or health professional to meet you and discuss your circumstances. This is part of your assessment. Eligibility for a Care at Home services is agreed after the assessment and applying the eligibility criteria (PDF, 50 KB).

If you do not have a social worker then you, or someone on your behalf, can contact Health and Social Care Connect, for advice and information or to arrange for your needs to be assessed.

If you already have a social worker then you can contact them through Health and Social Care Connect to request an assessment of your needs.

An assessment is an important step in deciding the type and level of support you may require and the best way to meet your care needs. Even if you organise or pay privately for your care, it is still a good idea to have an assessment in order to help you understand what type of care and support is available to you.

How much will it cost?

If you organise and pay for Home Care support yourself through a private arrangement, prices will vary.

No matter who your provider is, you must be told what service they will provide and how much it will cost before the service begins.

If you have been assessed as needing Home Care by Social Work Services, there may be a charge for your Home Care Service. This will be based on your ability to pay rather than the cost of services you need. We will carry out a financial assessment to assess your ability to pay. As part of the assessment, we will also check you are receiving any benefits you may be entitled to. For standard Home Care charges - see our Client Contribution Guide for more information.

Because of a government policy called 'free personal care', there is no charge for the provision of personal care tasks. There may, however, be charges for other non-personal care services, for example, shopping, housework, social support.

Free personal care is one element of Care at Home services. It is available to people who are assessed as needing personal care.

For standard Home Care charges - see our Client Contribution Guide for more information.