Residential Care - Older People

If you are considering using residential care and are not able to pay for it yourself then you will need to contact our Community Response and Re-ablement Team - see Contact details on the right and ask for an assessment.

A residential care home provides accommodation, meals and personal care for older people with disabilities who are unable to safely manage at home, for whatever reason.

All homes are different, but the government defines residential care as the kind of care you would receive from a competent and caring relative. Staff are available 24 hours a day to help with meals, getting washed, having a bath, getting dressed, using the toilet and caring for you if you become ill. However, residential care does not include nursing care.

A nursing home provides all of the above plus 24 hour registered nursing care. Nursing care is better suited to people with a higher level of dependency.

Choosing a care home
When choosing a home, it is important to make sure that you select one that will be right for you both now and in the future. You can get advice and information to help you make this important decision from:

A social worker or care manager
A district nurse
A health visitor
Your family doctor

You can obtain at no cost independent reports on the quality of your local homes and care services from the Care Quality Commission to help you make an informed choice.

You can consider homes in other local authority areas if your needs will be better met there. If you are currently in hospital and your choice of home is not currently available, we will help to choose an alternative home while you wait for your first choice to become available.