Choosing the right kind of care

Most families arrive knowing a situation, not a category: a fall, a diagnosis, a parent who has stopped eating because nobody is there at lunchtime. The category matters because it decides who you hire, what they are allowed to do, and roughly what it costs.

There are four levels — companion, trained attendant, high-dependency caregiver and skilled nurse — and eight common types of care built from them. A trained attendant can help with bathing and medicines reminders. An attendant cannot give an injection, change a prescription or dress a wound, however willing they are. Getting this boundary wrong is the most common safety failure in home care.

These pages explain what each type involves, the qualifications to ask for, the price band, and the warning signs that a higher level of care is now needed.