Answer: Ann Mason Care staff will meet you and your family in confidence preferred to discuss how we can help. Together we will plan your personal care needs and how best to deliver satisfactory outcomes. We can include in these any dietary care, domestic or personal service requirements like cleaning, laundry, shopping, paying bills, collecting prescriptions and assistance with medication etc.

We will make regular contact to assess whether your carers and care plan is fulfilling your expectations and that both you and your family are completely satisfied with the outcomes.

Answer: All of our care workers are required to undergo a comprehensive training course to comply with Essential Standards to make sure they are ready to provide care at home. All personal information is held under the strictest confidence and security to comply with the data protection act.

Ann Mason Care is required to register with their statutory regulator the Care Quality Commission as a provider of personal care. We are obliged to meet a high standard of service and undergo regular inspection this includes effective procedures to respond to comments and complaints, so that in the unfortunate event of a problem arising, it is resolved as quickly as possible.

Your senior carer and care manager will make regular contact to check if you are satisfied with the quality of your personal care.

Answer: Your local council’s social work team are obliged to perform an assessment of your care needs if you request it. If they agree that you need care, they will then undertake a financial assessment. Taking your income and savings – but not the value of your home – into account, the financial assessment will establish whether you qualify for financial assistance from the state.

There are several ways that care can be funded. In some cases local councils or Primary Care Trusts will pay all or part of the costs of care. In England and Wales people may be required to make a financial contribution to their package of care.

Once the council has decided that you have eligible needs for care, they will discuss with you how these can be met.

What happens next depends on where you are in the UK and on your local council. The council may provide your care itself, or ask an approved agency to provide it on their behalf. Or the council may offer you a personal budget – a notional amount to spend – which would give you more choice and control over your care. This could also be spent using a direct payment – cash given to you by the council to arrange your own care.

You can either buy services from a regulated homecare agency or take on the responsibility of employing your own personal assistant (PA). Regulated agencies carry out careful checks on staff they recruit, consider health and safety risks, and account to the Revenue for tax and national insurance. They are inspected by a care regulator and must carry out staff training. In contrast, PAs are not regulated and you would need to arrange checks, training and PAYE, as well as comply with the law as an employer – a burden some would prefer to avoid.

Instead of a direct payment, you could ask the council to buy council services or services from a homecare provider for you, using your personal budget. Finally, you or your family can fund your own care, without state assistance, and use a local homecare agency privately to provide care.

VAT is not usually charged on homecare services so it is important to check if fees quoted by providers include VAT or not.

Please visit the websites www.direct.gov.uk for more details on Disability allowance, Cares allowance and Attendance allowance and www.NHS.uk and access information on the window –Financial help.