Respite

The Care at Home Service provides carers with a regular break from caring by providing practical help in the home for a few hours each week. One off help is also available in emergencies or if you want to attend a special event.The Care at Home service is needed to:

Provide a break from the caring routine

Relieve stress on the carer/family

Give stimulation to the service user

Avoid unnecessary admission to hospital or residential care when domestic arrangements break down

Provide care to the Minority Ethnic person living alone in exceptional circumstances

Who can use Care at Home Service?

You can use the service if you are a Minority Ethnic carer of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Chinese ethnic origin, and you are caring for an older person aged 50+ and living in Edinburgh.You can either come to talk to us directly or any voluntary or statutory organisations can contact us on your behalf.

The Care Co-ordinating Officer will visit your home to carry out an assessment of the needs of the person you are looking after. They will also carry out a ‘risk assessment’ of your home to check if your home is safe. Once these assessments are completed and approved, a Care Plan will be agreed, stating clearly the tasks to be performed by the Care Assistants.

Who are the Care Assistants?

The Care at Home Service employs a Chinese Care Assistant who will work with the Chinese community and an Asian Care Assistant who will work with the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities.

A male Care Assistant is also employed as a sessional worker for those who would prefer support to be provided by a male worker.

The Care Assistants are fully trained professional staff who are bi-lingual.

The Care Assistants receive training in Manual Handling Skills, First Aid, Health and Safety, Cultural Awareness and other related issues before they deliver the services to the person receiving care.

How can the Care Assistants help the person receiving care?

Care Assistants will provide personal and domestic care to the person receiving care. They can help with:

Personal care tasks to maintain hygiene and comfort

Dressing and undressing

Getting in and out of bed and/or a wheel chair

Maintaining a person’s general mobility

Assisting individuals achieve physical comfort

Preparing light meals

Making the bed and changing linen

Essential light laundry

Keeping the individual’s room clean and tidy

Maintaining outside contacts

Accompanying individuals outside the home

Maintaining a safe environment for the individual at all times

For more information please contact the Care at Home Co-ordinating officer at MECOPP.

Care Commission Inspection Reports

The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (the Care Commission) is the independent regulator set up under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 to regulate care services in Scotland.

Download September 2006 Report (220kb)
Download June 2007 Report (36kb)

You will need Adobe Reader to view these reports.

You can download Adobe Reader for free.

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