Hi everyone and welcome to our blog which we hope will be a repository of interesting articles on the home care sector, advice for both clients and carers as well as news on what’s happening within Home Care Direct.
For our first blog we thought it would be an idea to give some reasoning behind the birth of Home Care Direct as well as some information on how we hope to “Transform the Way We Care”
Home Care Direct has been born out of our “bricks and mortar” business Home Care Plus, in an effort to address some fundamental issues facing the home care sector in Ireland.
Some of those issues include
*Ever increasing demand
*Shortage of Carers
*The need to drive better quality home care provision
*Increasing cost of home care for families and the state
As we have grown in our agency business Home Care Plus, we have noticed how difficult it is to maintain quality levels and above all that important personal touch. As agencies grow there is a real threat of moving from being a home care provider to just a logistics provider where you lose sight of the highly personal nature of the service you are providing.
We also have been acutely aware of a fundamental paradox that exists within the home care sector, that we as a sector, treat our most important asset, our carers, less than ideally. They are paid a low level of wages taking into account the important work they do, they have little guarantee of work and they have precious little career advancement opportunities.
This is despite the fact that it doesn’t matter how nice the staff in the office are, at the end of the day we are all judged 100% by the quality and attitude of the carer that we send into our clients.
This isn’t because all agencies are fundamentally bad but rather because of how the sector is presently structured and how home care is paid for.
Home Care Direct is our attempt to change the way we care by putting carers at the centre of what we do and through that drive quality and efficiencies that will benefit all stakeholders.
Home Care Direct at its most basic is a platform that puts carers and families in contact directly, providing them with a suite of tools to manage that relationship.
Home Care Direct doesn’t pretend to be suitable for all families and their care needs or indeed all carers but we feel there is a significant part of the market that could benefit by having more control over how care is delivered, when care is delivered and by whom.
In addition, the significant savings that Home Care Direct can deliver means care can be contracted earlier and more extensively, aiding in keeping people living at home for longer. Earlier and more extensive home care also helps to cut down on hospital and nursing home admissions.
One area that Home Care Direct does mirror an agency is in our recruitment. We have a relentless focus on quality and only allow the very best carers join our platform. All carers are interviewed, referenced checked and Garda Vetted. Not only do we look for the best carers, we also want those carers who are proactive with the right attitude and who are going to ensure great customer service.
Home care is a highly personal service of great importance to families and because of this we ensure all our Carers are fully tax compliant providing invoices and a record of care delivery to their clients.
As many of you will be aware, there is significant tax relief available for home care at the funder’s marginal tax rate and because our Carers are tax compliant, this can be fully availed of.
It is important to note that Home Care Direct is not just an online platform. It has grown out of our “bricks & mortar” agency Home Care Plus which means there is a full back up service available for both families and carers when needed.
We hope you will try Home Care Direct and see first-hand the benefits it can bring to your family and your care needs.
We would be delighted to hear from you regarding what you like about our platform but also the areas that we can improve. We don't pretend to have all the solutions but we are committed to making Home Care Direct work for families and Carers and transforming the way we care.