Home care: delivering personal care and practical support to older people living in their own homes

Context

Home care is one of several services that can be offered to people assessed as needing social care support. It can be funded by health or social care commissioners or by the person using services. Although the range and type of services that can be classed as home care varies, it usually encompasses:

Home care services may also help people to stay independent and take part in social and other activities.

A number of recent reports have identified significant concerns about the quality, reliability and consistency of home care services. A themed inspection of home care by the Care Quality Commission, Not just a number: Review of home care services, also highlighted some specific key areas for improvement.

The Department of Health asked NICE to develop a guideline to help address these issues (see the final scope). The guideline was developed by a Guideline Committee following a detailed review of the evidence on home care.

The Care Quality Commission uses NICE guidelines as evidence to inform the inspection process and NICE quality standards to inform ratings of good and outstanding.

This guideline focuses on older people receiving home care and their carers. The guideline does not cover younger adults (although many of the recommendations may also be relevant to younger adults). This is because the largest group of people using home care is older people.

This guideline considers how person‑centred home care should be planned and delivered. It addresses how those responsible for managing, providing and commissioning home care should work together to deliver safe, high‑quality home care services. These services should promote independence and support people to do the things that are important to them.

This guideline has been developed in the context of a complex and rapidly evolving landscape of guidance and legislation, most notably the Care Act 2014. While the Care Act and other legislation describe what organisations must do, this guideline is focused on 'what works' in terms of how to fulfil those duties, and deliver support to older people using home care and their carers.

The guideline is for health and social care practitioners, home care provider organisations, home care managers, home care workers, commissioners of home care in local authorities and clinical commissioning groups, and people using or planning to use home care services.