Why Choose Right at Home?

About Right at Home

Right at Home Mitcham, Streatham and Dulwich is a home care company providing support and companionship to vulnerable adults living in their own home. We are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and (although owned and operated locally) are part of a franchise which operates in 7 countries including 70 offices in the UK.  We have a current rating of “Good” from the CQC.

Our Motivation

The company is family owned.  Together owners Tracey and Michael Scott we have over 50 years’ combined experience providing professional services.  They share a genuine desire to make a difference in the local South London community.  They want to improve understanding of the elderly and those living with dementia and help reduce loneliness and isolation. They do this through the provision of excellent home care and support combined with a complimentary range of activities, such as Singing for the Mind, Dementia Friends, and dementia advice/information stand sessions.

Our Experience

Working in professional services taught them attention to detail as well as the need to get things right – first time, every time. No service is perfect.  But professional service firms are very good at training their staff, managing teams of people, knowledge management, recruiting, IT and generally running a complex and often time-critical service.  They use their experience and knowledge to run their office in a professional manner, with the sole goal of providing the best service we can to each client, every day.

Our Carers

All members of the carer team are carefully selected.  They must share RaH's values of kindness, integrity, and patience.  They must also have fluent written and spoken English. Following interview, they attend a comprehensive induction programme. The course, which is accredited by City and Guilds, ensures all staff are trained to meet the 15 standards of person-centred care. They are also trained in moving and handling, medication management and basic life support. Further continuing e-learning is undertaken after they start working. Lastly all staff must provide references and complete an enhanced DBS search (to check for any criminal record).

Each year all carers are surveyed anonymously by an independent third party.  In 2021 RaH was awarded the Work Buzz 5 Star Award based on excellent (anonymous and 3rd party verified) feedback from all members of the team.

Our Service

Before starting work for each client, the first thing RaH does is listen.  They listen to learn the client’s needs and preferences. They use the information gathered to prepare a unique draft Care and Support Plan, which is then discussed and amended as required by the client and their next of kin.  A key element of this process is identifying Outcomes that is, those things that are most important in life to the client. 

The home care service includes routine daily tasks such as washing, dressing, cleaning, shopping, and cooking. But the real value – the real magic – in the service is the personal contact RaH carers make with clients, each visit.  Many clients live alone with varying degrees of dementia or other health conditions.  RaH carers are strongly encouraged to make sure they take time to connect with each client each visit.  This connection is more than being polite, more than having a chat.  It involves eye-to-eye contact and total focus on the client. Accepting the client just as he or she is, each visit, without judging and disregarding any changes in behaviour, can resonate deeply with the client making them feel valued and assured.  They will feel their life matters when someone really cares about them.

At Right at Home, we ask carers to “go the extra mile” just as they would for their own Mum or Dad.  Each visit, our carer, before he or she leaves, should ask themselves “is there anything else I could do?”

Gold Standard

Each client’s service is provided in accordance with the Care and Support Plan.  Being on-time and doing what is expected – every visit – and ensuring our client is left safe and happy, is our minimum standard. Consistent care and support can improve lives in a short time.  We aim to go much further however, to a “gold standard” of support and care whereby our carers help clients find new interests or revive hobbies they had long assumed were no longer open to them. We think laterally, sharing ideas as to what might help or what may be possible. We support our clients in realising age is no boundary and that everything is possible.

Material improvements to their comfort or quality of life can be achieved by explaining what is available, and introduction to a range of local services, interesting complimentary therapies, and group activities for those of a similar age or shared interests.  Home care can be very hard work, physically and emotionally, but the outcomes achieved through a gold standard of care – and the amazing feedback we receive from time to time makes it all more than worth it!  

If you have any questions or would like to discuss how we can support you or a loved one, please get in touch.