CARE PLANNING PROCESS

We believe that rigorous care planning with you and your family is the first step to achieving excellent care. A senior member of our care management team will be responsible for designing a personal care plan. We will meet with you before your care commences and will encourage you to have your family member or supporter present during all of our care planning meetings.

Stage 1 - Free Care Consultation

We will arrange a mutually convenient time to meet with you. During this meeting we will get to know you and your requirements and talk to you about the solutions we could provide.

Stage 2 - Agreeing Your Care Plan

Should you decide that we are the right care agency for you we would arrange a second meeting in order to have a more detailed discussion about your requirements. During this meeting we will complete a care planning document which will enable us to formulate a comprehensive care plan.

Stage 3 - Creating Your Care Plan

Information provided by you at our meetings will be used by the care manager to create your personalised care plan. We will arrange a further meeting to discuss the care plan we have designed and confirm that we have fully understood the care you require. Any changes you require to the care plan will be made at this stage.

Stage 4 - Your Care Commences

Only when you are completely satisfied with the care plan will we arrange a time for your care to commence and we will introduce you to your care team.

Stage 5 - Reviewing Your Care

We understand that your care needs may change therefore we will conduct a review of the services we provide. This will be done regularly to suit your changing needs and ensure that you are satisfied with the level and quality of our support. Continuity of care.

We assign each client regular carers. This continuity provides stability, allowing you and your carer to get to know each other and created stable, trusted and happier home environment.

Social Care

Our social companionship support offers assistance ranging from everyday domestic activities, someone to spend time with you or accompany you on social outings or appointments.

Our carers will spend time with you to provide companionship in activities or hobbies that you enjoy. These may include:

• Short walks

• Watching television

• Playing board games

• Dining out visiting the cinemas

• Writing letters or reading mail

• Household tasks and errands

Live In Care

Live in care is for those wishing to remain independently in their home but require a 24 hour carer. Universal Care and Support Services will provide a carer to live in your home and support you to remain living independently and enable you to continue with your chosen lifestyle. Circumstances that require you to have a live-in carer might include:

• Hospital discharge

• From a care home back to living at home

• Couples who want to stay together to minimise costs

• Transition of changing from one care agency to another

• People who want to retire in the comfort of their own home

• Long term illness

24 Hour Care

Our 24 hour care service is for individuals who require 24 hour care but have no room for a carer to move in or for those would prefer not to have a carer move in with them. We arrange for a carer to look after your needs during the day, and another carer to be with you throughout the night. The changeover will be agreed and suited around your needs. Both carers will carry out tasks as agreed with you in your care plan.

Hospital To Home

You may have lost your independence following hospital admission due to illness, disability or a period in residential care. Our re-enablement service is for those in hospital waiting to return to their homes after discharge or already at home and needing extra support following discharge.

Your care will be tailored to your needs to help you regain those essential skills lost through illness or disability. Our re-enablement service will help you improve your quality of life while regaining independence, as well as eliminate unnecessary or prolonged hospital admission.

The length of this service may last from a few days after being discharged from hospital on your return home or through the entire discharge process.

We will liaise with other professionals involved in your care to ensure a smooth transition from hospital to your home. We will provide you with nurses, carers or support workers to best meet your identified needs.

Palliative Care

For patients suffering with a life threatening illness our palliative care support can assist you to remain in the comfort of your own home, whatever your requirements.

Our well trained staff will offer you support and reassurance while respecting your wishes and showing discretion at all times. They will liaise with other professionals involved in your care in case of emergencies, as agreed in your care plan.

This support can also be tailored to provide your carers with a respite from caring for you. We endeavour to use only a small number of carers to ensure continuity of care. Our staff are well trained in last rites should the inevitable happen in your carer’s absence and will follow laid down care plans to ensure that your wishes are respected.

Respite Care

Respite care provides short term relief to carers caring for their loved ones and gives them time to rest and regain their own strength.

At UCSS we provide:

• At-home respite- Our well trained staff will provide short term relief on a regular or ad-hoc basis.

• Emergency respite - We will provide careers on short notice to cover your unplanned commitments from a few hours to the length of your absence.

Palliative Care

For patients suffering with a life threatening illness our palliative care support can assist you to remain in the comfort of your own home, whatever your requirements.

Our well trained staff will offer you support and reassurance while respecting your wishes and showing discretion at all times. They will liaise with other professionals involved in your care in case of emergencies, as agreed in your care plan.

This support can also be tailored to provide your carers with a respite from caring for you. We endeavour to use only a small number of carers to ensure continuity of care. Our staff are well trained in last rites should the inevitable happen in your carer’s absence and will follow laid down care plans to ensure that your wishes are respected.

Quality Assurance

Our staff consists of nurses, support workers and healthcare assistants. We ensure that our staff receives mandatory training as required by the Department of Health and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Our staff are vetted against:

• Enhanced Disclosure Barring Certificates (DBC) checks

• A full health declaration

• Full working history, along with detailed reference checks

• Annual reviews with relevant registration bodies to ensure fitness to practice

We provide regular supervision for all of our care staff, as well as annual appraisals in line with the Department of Health regulations; ensuring that our care staff continuously advances their skills whilst maintaining an excellent standard of care.

Funding Your Care

We understand that paying for care is not an everyday expense, so we’ve made our payment options and billing process convenient and easy to adapt to.​

Our billing is based on hourly rates, with the rate varying for bank holidays and evening & weekends. Please contact us for more details on pricing.

When you sign up for service with us, you have the option to pay by direct debit. Billing is every two weeks, with statements available online for you to view at any time.​

Public Funding

You may be eligible to receive help with funding your care from the Government. You have the right to request a free care assessment from your local Social Services department; this can include a community care assessment and a means-tested financial assessment to see if you are eligible to receive support with the cost of your care.

Attendance Allowance

For more information contact the Benefit Enquiry on 02476 231188 on go to www.direct.gov.uk

Independent Living Fund

Funded by Central Government, the Independent Living Fund supports people with disabilities to live independently in their own homes, rather than in residential care.​

Payments are made to people with disabilities so they can afford the employment costs, or associated employment costs, of a personal assistant or care agency to provide the support they need to remain living at home.

There are many things which the fund cannot be used to pay for, to understand what cannot be paid for with the fund; you can read more on www.dwp.gov.uk/ilf/

Private Funding

Should you not be eligible for public funding, or would simply prefer to fund your care privately, you will need to source your care independently. Faced with so many different options and conflicting information, this can become both a time-consuming and overwhelming task. If you are looking for support with financial planning, we would recommend that you contact an impartial Financial Advisor specialising in Care Fees. They can discuss options such as:​

• Equity Release

• Funding Care fees

• Estate preservation

• Wealth Preservation​

Supporting You In Your Home

Whether your care is paid for by private or public funds, we can deliver a high quality homecare service to you, tailored to your individual requirements.

Relief Staff

UCSS is designed to offer staffing solutions by supplying temporary and permanent staff for planned or unplanned absences including emergencies, sickness, maternity cover, holiday cover, staff shortages or regular on-going support. Our main object in providing staffing solutions is to provide appropriately trained staff in a timely and cost-effective manner ensuring flexibility and reliability. We operate a 24/7, 365 days on call service to cover any unforeseen emergencies.

Regardless of the size of your establishment UCSS will work with you to fully understand your staffing needs and match the right candidate to the job role.

We Supply:

• Registered Mental Health Nurses (RMNS’s)

• Registered General Nurses (RGN’s)

• Registered Learning Disabilities Nurses (RLND’s)

• Support Workers

• Residential Workers

• Outreach Workers

• Support Assistants

• Health Care Assistants

• Nursing and residential Homes

• Learning disability centres

• Private hospitals

• NHS Establishments

• Prisons

• Day Centres

• Reference checking

• Eligibility and fitness to work

• Enhanced DBS checks

• An induction training as well as policy training, record keeping, safeguarding, equality and diversity, discrimination and person centred training among other statutory and mandatory training.

We firmly believe that you will find our services represent outstanding value for money, with a wealth of added extras other agencies don’t match.