FAQs

What is Domiciliary Care?

Domiciliary care is provided to people who still live in their own homes but require additional support with activities, including household tasks, personal care and any other activity that allows them to maintain their independence and quality of life.

What is end of life and palliative care?

End of life and palliative care aims to help you if you have a life-limiting or life-threatening illness. The focus of this type of care is managing symptoms and providing comfort and assistance. This includes help with emotional and mental health, spiritual and social needs. End of life and palliative care provides practical help with daily tasks as well. The goal is to improve your quality of life and that of your family, friends and carers.End of life and palliative care is based on what your needs are, not your diagnosis. If you have an illness that cannot be cured and will lead to the end of your life, end of life and palliative care will be suggested.

What is person-centred care?

you are at the centre of planning and decision-making around your end of life and palliative care
your individual, cultural and religious needs are considered when care is planned
you are treated in the way you want to be treated
your preferences and values are recognised and respected
you are treated with respect and dignity whatever your age, cultural background, religion or sexual orientation.

By responding to your needs and those of your family in this way, your palliative care team can help you make the most of each day.

Will I lose all choice and control, and my independence?

No, WHC ensures all service users are able to exercise genuine control over their care and we support working together with our staff, local communities, health and social care organisations to co-design person-centred support packages. We have an asset-based approach to maximise people’s independence by building on their abilities and aspirations.

What are WHC’s Values?

Care and Compassion
Trust and Respect
Deliver and Achieve

What services do WHC offer?

Personal Care and Companionship services may include:
Assistance with self-care, such as grooming, bathing, dressing, and using the toilet
Enabling safety at home by assisting with ambulation, transfer (e.g., from bed to wheelchair, wheelchair to toilet), and fall prevention
Assistance with meal planning and preparation, light housekeeping, laundry, errands, medication reminders, and escorting to appointments
Companionship and engaging in hobbies and activities
Supervision for someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease
30 minute, 1 hour, 24 hour, Single Cover, Double Cover, 7 days a week,twilight calls throughout the night to carry out pressure relief, pad changes etc
Care for diseases and conditions such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), ALS, MS
Ventilator care
Tracheostomy care
Monitoring vital signs
Administering medications
Ostomy/gastrostomy care
Feeding tube care
Catheter care

What contracts do WHC hold and who are the professionals they work with?

WHC work with a range of professionals and hold many contracts, such as:
Manchester CCG – Manchester Clinical Commissioning Group
Manchester City Council, Learning Disability Team
Manchester Local Authority
Stockport CCG – Stockport Clinical Commissioning Group
Bolton City Council
Knowsley City Council
Liverpool CCG – Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group

What Management/Operational Software do WHC use?

WHC have invested in The PAS System, a secure cloud-based digital care management platform. The PASsystem is operated by care workers in the field via an app on a mobile phone or hand-held tablet and provides the service user, family members, commissioners and other authorised users in the circle of support with the ability to view and update live and highly detailed care information.
Carefree System – carefree is a software system which is used to create our rotas by our Coordinator, as well as invoices, wage reports, quality assurance reports, call monitoring and many more.

Do I need to have experience to work at WHC?

No, this is not essential. WHC pride themselves on offering an excellent Induction programme and provide all employees with full access to their Training Academy, where full training will be provided and employees will also have the opportunity to gain their Care Certificate from our in-house training team.

What is the Care Certificate?

The Care Certificate is an identified set of standards that health and social care workers adhere to in their daily working life. Designed with the non-regulated workforce in mind, the Care Certificate gives everyone the confidence that workers have the same introductory skills, knowledge and behaviours to provide compassionate, safe and high quality care and support.

What does the Care Certificate Cover?

The Care Certificate consists of the following 15 Standards:

Understand Your Role
Your Personal Development
Duty of Care
Equality and Diversity
Work in a Person-Centred Way
Communication
Privacy and Dignity
Fluids and Nutrition
Awareness of Mental Health, Dementia and Learning Disabilities
Safeguarding Adults
Safeguarding Children
Basic Life Support
Health and Safety
Handling Information
Infection Prevention and Control

Does the Care Certificate replace staff induction?

No. The Care Certificate is part of a structured induction but does not replace all of the learning required for staff induction. As well as the Care Certificate standards new staff will be expected to have information, knowledge and competences specific to the environment in which care will be provided. For example, new staff may receive information on how to report accidents, and what to do in case of fire which will be specific to the location in which they work. The Care Certificate programme will not focus on the skills and knowledge needed to work safely and effectively in a particular location. The content of this remains the employer’s responsibility.

Is the award of the Care Certificate based only on knowledge?

No, to be awarded the Care Certificate the person must acquire knowledge and demonstrate competence in all 15 standards. Assessment of knowledge and understanding is prefixed with verbs such as ‘describe’, ‘explain’, ‘define’, ‘list’ or ‘identify’ and can be based upon written or verbal evidence such as a workbook, written questions, case studies or sound files. Evidence of performance prefixed with words such as ‘demonstrate’, ‘take steps to’, ‘use’ or ‘show’ must be undertaken in the workplace during learners’ real work activity and observed by the assessor (unless the use of simulation is specifically allowed). Learners can practise and develop their skills in a classroom or similar setting but most of the assessment evidence must be collected during real work activity.

How long does it take to complete the Care Certificate?

During the piloting of the Care Certificate in 2014, the indication was that for a full-time member of staff, the average amount of time taken to complete the Care Certificate was 12 weeks.

It is likely that employers will find that the time taken to complete the certificate will vary depending upon a range of factors, including; the hours worked by the learner, teaching methods chosen, previous educational achievement, resources and opportunities for assessment, and the availability of assessors

Does WHC supply any additional courses?

Yes, WHC offers a range of accredited courses which are mandatory for all employees to complete:

Medication
Pressure Ulcer Awareness
Catheter and Stoma Awareness
Level 2 Principles of End-of-Life Care
Level 2 Moving and Handling of People
Level 2 Positive Behavioural Approach

How often do WHC’s Employees get paid?

WHC are committed to paying all employees on a weekly basis.

Who are CQC?

They are the Care Quality Commissioning group who are an independent regulator of health and social care in England. They make sure that health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high quality care and they encourage care services to improve. CQC monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. CQC publish their findings, including performance ratings to help people choose where they receive their care from.

Do all care providers have to register with the CQC?

Any care provider that offers regulated activities as listed in Schedule 1 of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2012must be registered with the CQC. This includes a number of activities including personal care, nursing care and accommodation for a person requiring nursing or personal care. If you are providing care in a person’s home, you need to register with the CQC.

What does each CQC rating mean?

Outstanding
The service is performing exceptionally well.
Good
The service is performing well and meeting our expectations.
Requires improvement
The service is not performing as well as it should and we have told the service how it must improve.
Inadequate

The service is performing badly and we’ve taken action against the person or organisation that runs it.

When do CQC inspections take place?

The frequency of a CQC inspectionis dependent on the care provider’s rating.

Good and Outstanding: Normally within 30 months of the last inspection report being published

Requires Improvement: Normally within 12 months of the last report being published

Inadequate: Normally within 6 months of the last report being published

New services: The first inspection will normally be scheduled between 6 to 12 months from the date of registration

What happens at a CQC inspection?

Domiciliary care (home care) inspections are normally announced 48 hours in advance so that a manager or senior in charge is available on the day.

An inspector or inspection team will use key lines of enquiry to gather evidence and information to support their inspection. The key lines of enquiry are five questions that the CQC use to regulate care and ensure people are at the heart of the care service. These five areas are:

Are they safe?
Are they effective?
Are they caring?
Are they responsive to people’s needs?
Are they well-led?

Evidence and information gathering will take the form of interviews with staff, service users, friends and family, reviewing feedback forms, observing care, reviewing records, documents and policies, and looking at care pathways.