SKILLCARE Heart of Homecare
CQC: Good
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Home care services

From a couple of hours a week to full live-in support. Tap any tag below to see exactly what it covers.

Personal & Homecare

Day-to-day personal care delivered with dignity, by carers who learn the routine and stick to it.

Full or assisted washing, bathing and showering, at the pace and level of privacy each person prefers. Help choosing and putting on clothes, plus hair, shaving, nails and everything that makes someone feel like themselves. Discreet, respectful continence care including catheter and stoma support where carers are trained for it. Prompting, administering from blister packs and full MAR chart recording, in line with our medication policy. Cooking to taste and to dietary or cultural requirements, with fluid and nutrition monitoring where needed. Safe transfers, hoisting and walking support from carers trained in moving and handling. Morning and bedtime calls that bookend the day — often the two visits that matter most.

Extended & 24-Hour Care

Overnight and round-the-clock cover for people who need someone there, without anyone leaving home.

A carer sleeps in the home and is available if needed during the night — reassurance without constant disturbance. A carer stays awake throughout the night for people who need repositioning, toileting or supervision. A carer lives in the home full time, providing continuous support and companionship as a genuine alternative to residential care. Two carers attending together where a risk assessment requires it, typically for hoisting or complex transfers. Compassionate support at home in the final stage of life, working alongside district nurses and palliative teams.

Reablement & Recovery

Short-term, goal-focused support after hospital, surgery, a fall or an illness — built to step down as independence returns.

Care in place for the day of discharge, coordinated directly with ward and discharge teams. Support with wound care routines, pain management prompts and the slow rebuild of normal activity. Confidence-building support after a fall, alongside a home risk review to reduce the chance of another. Carrying out the exercises and routines set by physiotherapists and occupational therapists between their visits. Care that is deliberately reduced over time — we plan for you to need us less, not more.

Palliative & End of Life Care

Care at home for people living with a terminal or life-limiting illness, and for the families around them. We have delivered this work alongside hospice and NHS teams for years, including under contract with St Luke’s Hospice and the North West London and North Central London Integrated Care Boards.

Most people say they would rather be at home at the end of their life, and comparatively few get to be. Whether that is possible usually turns on whether the practical support is there — at the right hours, from people who already know the person and do not need explaining to.

Washing, dressing, continence and mouth care delivered gently and unhurriedly, in the way the person prefers. Positioning, pressure area care, hydration and comfort, working to the plan set by the district nursing or hospice team. Prompting and administering prescribed medication, and escalating promptly to the clinical team when something changes. Waking nights, sleeping nights or a live-in carer, so someone is there through the hours families find hardest. Fast-track discharge home is often measured in hours, not days. We build packages at that pace when we are asked to. Respite so a family carer can sleep, eat or simply leave the house, and a familiar face to talk to. Dietary, modesty, prayer and ritual requirements followed as a matter of course, not accommodated as an exception. We work alongside district nurses, hospice at home teams, GPs and CHC coordinators rather than around them.

This care is frequently funded through NHS Continuing Healthcare or fast-track funding rather than paid for privately. We can tell you which is likely to apply and who to speak to — there is no charge for that conversation, and we would rather you knew before you started worrying about money.

If you want to talk to someone outside of us, the Marie Curie Support Line is free and open seven days a week.

Complex & Specialist Care

Long-term and complex conditions, supported by carers trained specifically for them and working alongside your clinical team.

A small, consistent carer team, familiar routines and communication approaches suited to each stage. Timing-critical medication support, mobility assistance and understanding of on and off periods. Support with mobility, communication difficulties and safe swallowing routines set by speech and language therapy. Person-centred support that builds independence, with communication adapted to each individual. Predictable routines, sensory awareness and carers who understand that consistency is not optional. Support for people living with long-term mental health conditions, working with community mental health teams. Delegated clinical tasks carried out only where carers are trained, signed off and covered by a clinical delegation agreement.

Community & Independence

Because care is not only what happens inside the house. Getting out and staying connected matters just as much.

Accompanying to GP, hospital and clinic appointments, including note-taking where that helps. Trips out, day centres, places of worship, the park — whatever keeps someone part of the world. Help finding and getting to local groups, clubs and befriending services. Rebuilding practical independence — cooking, budgeting, travel confidence, using public transport again. Setting up and supporting video calls so family who live further away stay part of the everyday.

Domestic & Lifestyle Support

The practical running of a home, so energy goes into living rather than managing.

Cleaning, tidying and keeping the home safe and comfortable to move around in. Washing, drying, ironing and putting away — done the way it has always been done. Planning a week of meals around preferences, dietary needs and what is actually enjoyable to eat. Feeding, walking and general care so a much-loved pet can stay at home too. Help opening post, keeping on top of bills and knowing which letters actually need answering.

Respite & Relief Care

Cover for family carers — for an afternoon, a fortnight's holiday, or an emergency nobody planned for.

Booked in advance so family carers can take a holiday, attend an event or simply rest properly. Cover at short notice when a family carer is ill, hospitalised or otherwise suddenly unavailable. A fixed slot each week that belongs to the family carer — the most sustainable form of respite there is. A carer takes the night so the family carer gets a full, uninterrupted sleep.

Personal Companionship

Sometimes the most valuable thing a carer brings through the door is conversation.

Regular visits with someone who knows the stories, the family names and how you take your tea. Gardening, crosswords, music, knitting, football — keeping hold of the things that make a day worth having. Reading aloud, writing letters and cards, and keeping in touch with people who matter. Photo albums, music from the right decade and conversation that reaches memories still firmly in place. A dependable, familiar presence for people who would otherwise go days without seeing anyone.

Shopping & Errands

Practical help with everything that has to be fetched, collected or queued for.

Shopping with you or on your behalf, with receipts and change recorded every time. Collecting repeat prescriptions from the pharmacy and making sure nothing runs out. Setting up and managing online grocery deliveries where that is easier than a trip out. Errands to the post office, bank or council office, always within our financial safeguarding policy.
Wellbeing service

Wellbeing & Health Monitoring

Non-invasive health checks carried out at home, with results communicated to GPs, families and hospitals — and appointment support where anything flags.

Routine non-contact or contact temperature readings, recorded and trended over time. Resting heart rate taken and logged at visits so changes are visible rather than guessed at. Heart rate variability, an indicator of overall physiological stress and recovery, tracked over time. Non-invasive cuff readings taken at agreed intervals and shared with the GP where relevant. Non-invasive blood sugar monitoring methods, recorded alongside the rest of the wellbeing picture. Observations passed to the GP practice promptly, in a format they can actually use. Readings and trends visible to family through the family portal, with a call when something changes. Sharing the monitoring record with hospital teams on admission so nothing has to be reconstructed. Practical help booking and getting to follow-up appointments when a reading needs looking into.

All monitoring is complementary to — and does not replace — the clinical assessment of a qualified healthcare professional. Any concerning results are escalated immediately to the appropriate clinical team.

24/7 emergency cover

Rapid Response

Crisis and emergency cover within 2–4 hours — any time, any day.

An unplanned discharge, a carer who has fallen through, a family carer suddenly taken ill, a situation that has changed overnight. We hold capacity specifically for these calls so that "we can be there this afternoon" is a real answer rather than an aspiration.

From the call being accepted to a carer at the door, in most cases within two to four hours. Nights, weekends and bank holidays included. Our 24/7 lines are 07983 163392 and 07399 472345 — there is no window when this service is closed. Same-day cover for discharges arranged with little or no notice. Stepping in when another arrangement has collapsed, while a longer-term plan is put together. Short-term cover that holds the line until a permanent package is commissioned.
Next step

Not sure which of these you need?

That is exactly what the free assessment is for. We will come out, look at the whole picture, and tell you honestly what would and would not help.

Also from Skillcare

We train carers too

The Skillcare Training Academy delivers the Care Certificate, specialist condition training, and mandatory and refresher programmes — to our own carers and to other organisations across London and Hertfordshire.

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