Our home care services
We firmly believe that family carers need and deserve to be recognised by statutory authorities and have a right to receive quality respite and homecare services.
We understand that there are many care agencies in the market and carers have a choice.
However, what we’re hearing from carers is that often “care” is exactly what’s missing from the service their loved one receives.
Our home visiting care services are not usually less than one hour as we believe that quality care can’t be rushed. However, we’re happy to discuss several shorter visits if this meets your needs.
For a carer to truly enjoy a break from their caring responsibilities means that the service their loved one receives must be reliable, caring and delivered in a way that inspires confidence.
Our staff are hand-picked, fully trained and understand how important it is that we deliver services that they would feel comfortable giving their own families.
Hello,
I’m the Chief Executive here at Enfield Carers Homecare. I grew up and live in Enfield, so I know the borough well.
Our experienced and dedicated team of Care Support Workers provide hundreds of hours of care to people in their homes every week.
We understand your loved one’s safety is paramount. That’s why we go to great lengths to ensure their Care Support Worker is someone your whole family can trust.
All our staff have full background checks, referencing and certificates to prove they reach the standards you expect.
Only the most trusted and enthusiastic people are selected to work for Enfield Carers Homecare Service.
Whatever your situation, you can take comfort from knowing that as a charity, we are here for you, not for profit.”
Pamela Burke, CEO
Our homecare services
HOMECARE SERVICES
We provide a wide range of care services in Enfield and surrounding boroughs which are tailored to the needs of Carers and persons they care for, and delivered at home.
REPLACEMENT & RESPITE CARE
Are you struggling to find time for yourself, attend your own medical appointments or perform regular household tasks e.g. shopping etc. because you can’t leave your loved one whilst you go out? We can help.
EMERGENCY CARE
What’s available if you need replacement care in an emergency? Has something suddenly changed? Do you have to leave your cared for, unexpectedly for an emergency for yourself or another family member?
The most popular services delivered by ECC Homecare are:
- Personal care and assistance with medication
- Dementia Support
- Care for frail elderly people
- Care for children with special needs
- Respite care
- Companionship
- Overnight care
- Escorts and Errands
- Light domestic duties
- Live-in
As one of Enfield’s leading and largest home care providers, we provide 2,600 hours of care EVERY month to our clients, who have a range of different personal situations – and all of this in our local community here in Enfield.
What our clients say about us
“ECC were my lifeline during the pandemic, online meetings and good communication really helped during a tough time. They were absolutely brilliant throughout!”
“The service is brilliant, and staff are worth their weight in gold”
“The service gives me piece of mind as I know that my son D is in good hands”
“I enjoyed my holiday more in the knowledge C was being well cared for”
Leave us a review
Our oldest homecare service user
The home care team wants to take the opportunity to celebrate our oldest service user, Hilda. Amazingly, she celebrated her 102nd birthday in February. It is with great pleasure that we support her daughter, Penny, to keep her lovely mum safely at home.
Born in February 1921, Hilda grew up living in her grandparents’ home in Regents Park. This is where she first developed her taste for art. She collected all her life and items are displayed almost everywhere in her house.
Hilda married Alan in 1945, and they spent many happy years together. They were lucky enough to become parents to twins. During the Second World War, Hilda worked in a factory making parts for the Spitfire airplanes; it was an honour for her to do this.
Hilda is still active. Once a week, she takes a trip into Enfield Town with her daughter Penny and Elaine, one of our support workers; a piece of cake and a cup of coffee are always on the menu.
Every morning Penny makes sure her mum looks amazing. Hilda, sitting in her armchair in the lounge, will put her make-up on.
The mother-daughter relationship they have is something to be treasured. Penny became Hilda’s full-time carer nine years ago, and their bond is beautiful. It is something Enfield Carers Centre is proud to help support.
Upon asking Hilda what her secret is to remaining youthful, she responded, with a twinkle in her eye, “having lots of men friends”.
Two key members of the home care team talked about their roles and our services
Alex Morgillo, Homecare Manager
and
Graham Addis, Senior Homecare Coordinator
Hello
Alex:
My name is Alex and I am the Enfield Carers Centre Home Care Manager and I’ve been working here over two years now.
We are very much focused on high quality respite services.
We have clients who might be looking after, for example, their child with learning difficulties full time, another might be looking after their mum with dementia. Much of this care is 24-hour non-stop so you need a break; you need some respite.
This is basically where we can offer help.
We set up a care package for you, visiting you a number of times a week, ideally for two or 3 hours.
This means carers can go out and, say, do some shopping or just spend some time with their wife or husband.
We equip all of our care workers with a tablet so that for example when they are with children they could use the tablet in that caring session, maybe playing games.
Alternatively, they can take the child out to the local park.
All in all, it gives the parents a break from this very demanding job of being a family carer.
In the case of someone with dementia they might need some additional brain stimulation.
We can listen to music with them, or do puzzles, or play games. We can take them out for a walk or we can take them out to the local coffee shop or the day centre. Just making sure that these people don’t face social isolation.
Q: What about training and vetting of staff?
Alex:
All of our staff are fully vetted and trained, as you can imagine. We have a lot of experience, some of our team have been with us for 22 years.
We are different from the other providers because it is not only about providing support with personal care and medication and meal preparation: we go the extra mile and provide emotional support.
We believe that emotional support is more important than anything else – meeting our clients’ emotional needs.
So many of my clients really look forward to seeing their support worker.
We also provide, where required, CQC (Care Quality Commission) regulated activity such as personal care and medication.
We visit these clients and we wash them, make sure they are safe, and we support them with medication and meal preparation.
Q: Why is home care a great option for our clients in Enfield?
Alex:
Many of our customers don’t want to move to a residential care home, they want to stay home.
So we step in so they can stay at home, safely, for as long as possible.
It’s really important that we find the right match between the client and the carer. Our care coordinator – Graham – is responsible for talking with the family to find out what qualities are needed in the support worker, which of course are different for each client.
Graham:
I am the senior care coordinator and one of my main responsibilities is to do the initial assessments of clients considering using us.
This initial assessment is done at the client’s home and I go out and visit them there.
I’m looking at the needs of each client, for example their medical needs, their mobility needs, their emotional needs, things like that.
Then back at the office it is my responsibility to match those needs to the most appropriate care support worker.
For example if we had a client with dementia we would be looking for a support worker who was trained and experienced in dementia care.
One of the most common questions I get asked when visiting is the difference between the care we provide and the care that the client would get if they were in a nursing home.
I explain that they will be able to stay in their own home, have their own surroundings: they have the freedom to choose, they have the freedom to be independent.
Q: What’s your experience?
Graham:
I’ve worked in care for many many years. I come from the care home sector, I used to manage a nursing home.
So obviously it’s quite easy for me to answer the question that we get about the difference in care between care at home and care in a nursing home.
The other common question we get is on the detail of the care we provide. A lot of people assume that the carer will come in just to provide quite basic care – personal care or give medication. We actually offer a lot more services than people might be aware of.
Alex:
So in summary a very important thing we provide is that sense, that continued sense, of independence for our clients.
And of course, the peace of mind we give to the carer as well as the client.
We don’t do half an hour visits, the minimum we do at the moment is 1-hour to ensure that we can build up that level of trust with our clients and carers. That’s the absolute minimum; much more common is visits of 2 or 3 hours at a time.
Many other services out there from other providers are about minimising the visit time and doing the minimum basic jobs. Like personal care and then heating a meal in the microwave and then leaving.
That’s not the way we operate. The longer visits allow more care, building trust and relationships and spending quality time together.
Q: What type of clients do we have?
Graham:
A wide mix: elderly, people living with dementia, children with special needs, people with mental health challenges, clients with complex needs and complex medical needs.
Q: Tell me about the personal care services we offer.
Graham:
We are talking here about showering, bathing, shaving, any kind of morning wash routine. Anything that is needed. Including catheter care and continence care, if needed.
Q: Give me an example of personal care
Alex:
A client who is unable to wash their back anymore because of arthritis. It’s a challenging situation for the client because they might be shy, they might be embarrassed.
The client might believe that their private space is being invaded.
So we have to treat it very much with a sympathetic approach and to build up a sufficient level of trust.
Of course providing personal care is regulated and all of our support workers have the necessary training and qualifications.
Q: What qualifications have our staff (care support workers) got?
Alex:
All are trained and vetted, which is the DBS police check plus 2 references from previous employees.
They have all completed the care certificate with the 15 standards, covering manual handling, medication etc.
We do internal training as well as use the NHS e-learning portal.
Q: If anyone is considering care at home in Enfield, what would you suggest?
Graham:
Contact us here at Enfield Carers Homecare and they can have an initial, no obligation chat with me or one of the team.
Thanks for your time today.
Meet some of our homecare team
Our prices – we can be competitive because we are not-for-profit
People often think homecare is unaffordable. Our pricing structure is competitive, fair and transparent.
You may be entitled to receive financial help from your local council. Enfield Carers Centre can support and help you to claim everything that you are eligible for.
Our Prices
Our prices are based on a one-hour minimum visit as we believe that quality care takes time.
With effect from 1st May 2024, the Homecare rates for new clients will be:
- Monday to Friday – 08:00 to 20:00 – £24 ph
- Monday to Friday – 20:00 to 08:00 – £26 ph
- Saturday & Sunday – any time – £26 ph
Call the office on 020 4519 2654 or 020 8366 3677 to discuss your care needs and to ask for a Homecare quote.
Different ways to pay for Homecare
If the person receiving care has their own money/income e.g. pension, disability benefits or savings, you can pay us directly for their homecare services by credit/debit card or online payment. We will send an invoice each month.
You may be entitled to help from social services to pay for or contribute to the cost of homecare services.
See our Will the local council pay for homecare page for more information.
Talk to one of our Carers Advice and Support Officers on 020 8366 3677 who can explain the council’s assessment process to you.
Care Quality Commissions rates us “Good”
Enfield Carers Centre Homecare was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) earlier this year. The Care Quality Commission is the organisation that inspects and rates residential care homes and nursing homes, and that includes our homecare workers.
We were delighted to be rated “Good” in all individual sections and also Overall.
Here’s what they said about our homecare services:
- “All the parents of young people were confident that the Enfield Carers Homecare workers supporting their children knew how to keep their children safe when they were not present.
- Comprehensive risk assessments provided guidance to staff and were reviewed regularly.
- ECC homecare staff had received medicines training and people received their medicines safely and on time.
- There were robust recruitment systems in place to ensure staff were safe to work with vulnerable people.
- People and relatives told us they valued the support offered to them by our homecare staff and appreciated their professional and dedicated approach to their work.”
The inspection confirmed that Enfield Carers Homecare staff arrived at the time stipulated in the care plan and were involved in a meaningful way with the people they worked with. Cared-for people were supported so that they have maximum choice and control of their lives.
Enfield Carers Homecare staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Our homecare staff were described as:
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“Tremendous”
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“A life saver”
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“Dedicated”
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“Lovely”
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Staff that the Care Quality Commission spoke with were passionate about the care they provided and knew people well.
The report also noted that Enfield Carers Centre’s clients usually had the same care staff visiting them and that they were treated with dignity and respect and recognised as individuals with their own likes and dislikes.
Cared-for clients had detailed care plans which reflected how they wanted to receive their care.
Care plans were reviewed regularly.
They and their relatives were fully involved in all aspects of planning care.
Cared-for clients were encouraged to take part in activities that were meaningful to them.
The Care Quality Commission said:
- “everyone we spoke with thought the organisation was well-managed and that the office staff were very approachable and obliging.”
- “Enfield Carers Centre’s clients were very happy with the care given and appreciated the short periods of time they were given for themselves whilst care workers looked after their loved ones.”
- “The homecare service valued people and relatives’ feedback and there were numerous ways in which this was gathered.”
How good is our service for people with autistic and learning disability?
The Care Quality Commission inspects home care providers and their workers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability have the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.
‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the statutory guidance which supports Care Quality Commission to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.
Care Quality Commission’s report confirmed that Enfield Carers Homecare “was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of ‘Right support, right care, right culture’.
- “People were treated as individuals with their own preferences.
- Care was person centred and tailored to achieve maximum wellbeing for people.
- Staff had received training in working with people with a learning disability and/or autism.
- The values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.”
Is the service provided by Enfield Carers Homecare safe?
The Care Quality Commission inspected us recently.
Key is checking that clients are protected from abuse and avoidable harm.
Enfield Carers Homecare has been rated “Good”.
The report said “People were protected from the risk of abuse and harm by staff who understood their responsibilities around safeguarding.”
People and relatives told [the CQC that, “care staff were skilled in what they did and people were confident they or their loved ones were safe in the care of staff from Enfield Carers Homecare service.”
One person said, “I just know I’m safe with the carers. I like them.”
Relatives commented, “I know the children are safe with their carers because the children like them. I would know if they didn’t like them, because they would not want to go out with them. The carers look after the children really well. They know what to do. One of my daughters reacts if she sees dogs and the carers know this”.
“Yes, Mum does feel safe with her carer as she chats with her and makes mum smile and laugh.”
The report confirmed our homecare staff had received training in safeguarding which was refreshed regularly and staff understood how to recognise and report any concerns around safeguarding.
In addition, the Enfield Carers Homecare Service “ensured people were kept safe through comprehensive risk assessments“.
People’s personal risks were assessed and guidance for staff in how to minimise know risks was documented in their care plans and risk assessments.
Risks assessed included skin integrity, behaviours, food allergies and moving and handling.
Prior to the Enfield Carers Homecare Service providing care, an environmental risk assessment was completed on the property to ensure all risks were known about and minimised.
On our excellent homecare staff
The Care Quality Commission’s latest inspection of Enfield Carers Homecare Service confirmed that “there were enough staff to meet people’s identified care needs and provide continuity of care“.
All people and relatives told us care staff were very reliable, always stayed the correct amount of time and arrived on time.
A person said, “The carers are always on time and stay for the right amount of time.”
Relatives told [the CQC], “Yes, carers always stay for the full amount of time and are always here on time, too. I need the carer here by 7:30am so I can leave to go to work, and they are always on time” and “They [care staff] are absolutely brilliant, always on time and very reliable.”
People had the same homecare staff visiting them and were able to build effective working relationships with their care workers.
A person told [the CQC], “Yes my carers are all regular carers, they haven’t changed that much in the year I have had them.”
A relative said, “Yes we need continuity for mum as she has dementia, so have requested the same carer to provide support and have received it, which we are grateful of.”
On the quality of our caring
The Care Quality Commission inspected Enfield Carers Centre’s Homecare Service in 2022.
The inspection looks for evidence that our homecare service treats our clients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect; and involves them as partners in their care.
We are very proud that the feedback from relatives around how kind and caring our staff were, was exceptionally positive.
One person told [the CQC],“I like my carers. They are kind and caring. I like being with them.”
Relatives commented, “[Named] likes to have cuddles and the carers do this well. He likes his carers very much and knows when they are due. Both carers are kind, calm and sweet natured. They are also very patient” and “the carers are kind and caring and know what they are doing. The children really like them.”
Relatives were also positive around the support they and their loved ones received and felt their needs were fully understood and respected.
A person said, “My carer is lovely, and she understands my needs and works with me accordingly.”
Relatives said, “The support we get from this organisation is just what we wanted and really needed. Without them, I don’t know what I would have done. Sometimes it really gets on top of me, and they help me through it.”
“Carers are great with the kids. They know exactly what each of them need and it is going well.”
There were regular reviews of people’s care plans. Relatives said, “My daughters care plan is reviewed every six months and changes recorded and updated”.
A relative also commented, “Carers get along very well with [person] and know her well. They are very respectful with her. They are very patient too.”