What is Home Care?
Home Care (also called domiciliary care) is extra support usually from a paid carer to help you live independently in your own home.
A carer can be a care agency arranged through the Council or employed privately using your own funds.
Home Care is different from the informal support that people get from unpaid carers who are usually family members, friends or neighbours.
Tasks carers can support with
- Support with day-to-day tasks such as personal care, meal preparation and other domestic tasks
- Short-term emergency support whilst you recover from an illness or to give family or friends a break from their caring role
- Long-term support
Arranging your own home care
To arrange your own care from a paid carer, you can follow this link to the CQC website to find and compare care services.
These agencies are registered and inspected by CQC so they in-line with national standards.
If you choose to arrange your own Home Care, you can employ the carer directly through the home care agency that you choose.
Care arrangements for people with an assessed need
If you want help from a paid carer but you are unable to arrange your own Home Care, the council can arrange home care for you if you are eligible for this.
For the council to decide if you are eligible, a care assessment is needed. If you are assessed as eligible for support, the council will arrange the home care for your safety and independence at home.
If you are assessed as not eligible, you can arrange your own home care and get free advice about where you can get help in your community.
Depending on your circumstances, you may need to contribute towards the cost of your home care or pay for it all. A financial assessment will determine this.
Home care neighbourhoods
Lambeth Council and the NHS have organized home care into 8 local "neighbourhoods." Each area has a dedicated care provider to make your support more reliable and better coordinated with your local GP.
How this affects you
If the council arranges your home care, your support is now delivered by your local neighbourhood provider.
- Your care stays the same: Your care plan, assessed needs, and level of support have not changed.
- No action needed: You do not need to do anything. If your provider needed to change, this has already happened.
- Better coordination: Your care workers now work more closely with your local nurses and doctors.
Quality of care
All providers must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The council monitors providers regularly through quality visits and performance reviews to ensure they meet national standards.
If you have a concern or complaint
If you are unhappy with your care, you should:
- Speak to your provider: Try to resolve the issue with them directly first.
- Contact the council: If the provider cannot help, email the commissioning team at ASCcommissioning@lambeth.gov.uk
- Make a formal complaint: If you are still unhappy, you can use the council’s formal complaints process.
Report a safeguarding concern
Everyone has the right to feel safe. If you are worried about abuse or neglect (of yourself or someone else):
- In an emergency: Call 999 immediately.
- Report a concern: Contact the Adult Social Care team as soon as possible. We take all reports seriously and will investigate.
Contact us
If your needs change or you have questions about your service, contact the Community Duty Team:
- Telephone: 020 7926 5555 (option 1)
- Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
- Post: Lambeth Council, Adult Social Care Commissioning, PO Box 80771, London, SW2 9QQ