Frequently Asked Questions
1. What medical conditions do you support?
We provide specialist care provision for individuals with a range of neurological conditions, in particular spinal cord injury, and including progressive illnesses:
- Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
- Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)
- Huntington’s Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Motor Neurone Disease (MND)
- Duchenne’s Muscular Dystophy
- Muscular Atrophy
- Complex Respiratory Needs
2. What geographical locations do you cover?
Total Community Care provides care packages nationwide across England, Scotland and Wales. Our highly-experienced teams of Care Managers, Clinical Nurses and Trainers are based around the country.
3. What is the process for booking an assessment?
If you would like to arrange a care assessment, we will organise a date to undertake the assessment as quickly as possible. TCC assessments are free of charge. Our care assessments take about
1 – 1 ½ hours. There is no obligation to choose TCC following your assessment. To discuss our service in more detail and to book a date for an assessment please call 01858 469790 or email info@totalcommunitycare.co.uk
4. Do you create bespoke care teams?
We advocate specialist, tailor-made teams who are trained to the highest standards to meet the needs of the person requiring a care package. This ensures continuity of care and quality, with commitment to sustainable care provision. The recruitment adverts are created bespoke to an individual’s needs with their input, and interviews are held with the person requiring the care package/family member/case manager.
5. How do you recruit support workers/carers?
We have a team dedicated to recruiting support workers/carers bespoke to an individual’s needs. This we achieve by the using a wide variety of channels such recruitment agencies, newspapers, website advertising and social media advertising.
6. Can staff members in a current care package transfer over to work for TCC? TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations?
Yes, we have a huge amount of experience in TUPE and transferring staff from an existing care package over to a new care package with TCC. We always honour or improve staff benefits and conditions when they transfer to TCC.
7. What is your process of creating a care package?
Please see the flow chart below which outlines our proven, full process:
8. What support is in place to manage the care package?
Each individual care package has a dedicated Care Manager with overall responsibility for the care package including:
- Liaison with appropriate professionals
- Identification of clinical issues
- Day to day management
- Rotas
- Staff support and supervisions
- Monitoring
Each individual care package also has a dedicated Clinical Nurse enabling the Care Team to meet individual specific care needs through:
- Classroom/theory training
- Practical training
- Achievement of required person-centred skills
- Care planning
- Identification of clinical issues
- supervisions
- Risk assessment
- Review and refresh sessions
- Professional Development
- Coordination of training dates
- Monitoring
- Quality Assurance
- Audit
9. What training do you provide for the care teams?
We provide a high level of training for Care Teams in conjunction with Rehabilitation Units and/or other health and social care professionals. We train a client’s team to meet their specific care needs. All support workers are assessed using a highly detailed skills assessment document where they must learn key mandatory skills as well as skills bespoke to each individual. Training includes:
- Moving and handling
- Bowel management
- Bladder management
- Skin care and management
- Medication management
- Personal hygiene
- Autonomic dysreflexia
- Ventilation and respiratory care
- Temperature control
- Enteral feeding
- Health and safety
- First aid
- Record keeping
- Infection control and hygiene
10. Do you support people with a tracheostomy and ventilator dependent?
Yes. We have a highly experienced team of Clinical Nurses and Trainers who support individuals with tracheostomies and who are ventilator dependent.
TCC client, Sarah Yeo, has a complex respiratory condition
11. Do you have an emergency 24-hour support line?
Yes, we have an out of hours emergency line to ensure people with a TCC care package and their support team have 24-hour support/advice in place should it be required. The emergency line is available at the weekends and after office hours.
12. What benefits do TCC support workers/carers receive?
We value highly both our employees and the support they give to our clients. Benefits of working for TCC as a support worker/carer include:
- Excellent rates of pay
- Pay is based on an hourly rate rather than a live-in rate
- 28 days paid holiday per annum (pro rata)
- Company sick pay scheme
- Paid attendance at all training at full standard hourly rate
- Personal development
- Double pay on bank holidays
- Access to a health cash plan offering optical, dental, physiotherapy and other health benefits
- Regular supervision and contact with their line manager
13. How long does it take to set up a new care package?
We aim to have commenced the care provision within approximately 10-12 weeks of the receipt of signed terms and conditions. This includes putting together job adverts, recruitment of a bespoke care team and training. By recruiting a bespoke care team, it means that only support workers/carers will be used that are known and trained to the bespoke requirements of the care package.
We work with lots of Case Managers, Solicitors and CHCs who understand this and where required put in place interim temporary care for the 10-12 weeks until the sustainable TCC team is recruited.
14. What are the warning signs to look out for when deciding on a care provider?
- Care agencies who say they can put a care package together very quickly or cheaply.
Concerns: Will you be choosing your own staff? What will staff be paid? Will they receive proper training? Is this a quick fix – or a viable long-term solution?
- Care agencies who say they already have a bank of staff.
Concerns: This does not let the client select their own staff. If the staff are skilled and trained why do they not currently have work? If they are ‘taken’ from elsewhere might they be ‘taken’ from you in the future?
- Care agencies that let support workers live in for weeks at a time.
Concerns: The staff member can become very tired over such a period of time, and what happens when breaks are needs (at least three hours per day)? Staff are normally paid considerably less than the National Minimum Wage per hour. Cover can be problematic such as in the event of sickness.
The impact of this could lead to high levels of stress for the individual, including family and friends and an increased risk of serious health issues.
15. What is the minimum number of hours covered by a TCC care package?
Most of our care packages provide 24-hour care, 7 days a week. However, we also have some care package that only require care in the daytime or only require care at night time. Usually our minimum care requirements are for around no less than 70 hours per week. However, we do have some packages that provide fewer hours than this, but these have two support workers on at a time. The best thing to do is to call us on 01858 469790 or email us at info@totalcommunitycare.co.uk and we can then discuss care on an individual case by case basis.
16. Do you provide pop-in care?
No we do not provide pop in care. Our specialist workers provide support in shift patterns of longer blocks of time from 8 to 24 hour periods. In this way they are also able to provide the required continuity of care
17. How much does a care package cost?
Costs are based on each individual’s bespoke requirements. This would include the type of training needed, the location, nature of need (e.g. fully ventilated), and rate of staff pay in different parts of the country. Please call us on 01858 469790 or email us at info@totalcommunitycare.co.uk and we would be happy to provide an estimate of costs.
Our costings cover all care management and administration costs including:
- National Insurance
- Bank Holidays, Weekends and Antisocial Hours
- Auto Enrol Pension
- Annual Leave
- Induction and Specialist Training
- Enhanced DBS checks
- Ongoing client clinical support and advocacy
- Staff supervision and Appraisals
- Ongoing recruitment
- Travel costs and travel time
18. When are the staff rotas put together?
Staff rotas are completed by the 15th of the preceding month. This allows clients and staff to confidently make plans in advance.
19. Do you provide 24-hour care or live-in care?
TCC provide 24 hour care for the majority of our clients. This approach requires a team of workers supporting each individual in their own home. It ensures that there is cover for both leave and sickness and significantly reduces the prospect of staff burn out which can be a risk if one worker is on duty for too long a time period. Staff are also paid an hourly rate rather than an allowance and this directly helps with retention of staff.
This ensures that there is the constant availability of an identified support worker for every hour of every day; rather than some models of live-in care which results in significant gaps when staff have breaks. Our approach promotes flexibility and the care being designed around the needs of the individual. We have successfully utilised this model of care with clients in their own homes, but also in a range of other environments including that of work and worldwide travel. We would be happy to discuss the structure that is best suited for your needs.
20. Will support workers/carers be able to come on holiday?
Yes, support workers/carers will be able to go on holiday. TCC will cover reasonable expenses such as money for meals whilst away, but we do not cover the cost of accommodation and travel.
21. What happens in the event of a hospital admission?
Your care team would accompany you upon a hospital admission. The benefit of this is that you receive continuity of care from people you are familiar with and this assists with the workload of the ward staff who retain clinical responsibility.
22. What happens if there is an issue with a member of the care team?
Each care package has a dedicated Care Manager. The Care Manager has overall responsibility for managing the care team and holds regular supervisions with each staff member throughout the year. The dedicated Care Manager’s phone number will be provided at the start of the care package so they can be quickly informed if there are any issues.
Our team of Care Managers ensure that they act in a positive and timely manner where issues are raised within the package. They also ensure that there is good communication about the care package directly with any other involved parties.
23. What happens if someone on the care team is sick or on annual leave?
Our care teams and rotas are set up to be sustainable and self-sufficient wherever practical. This means that if a member of the team is sick or on annual leave, there will be someone on the care team available that is known and trained to the bespoke needs of the care package.
24. What are the advantages of using TCC?
- We provide bespoke care nationwide for people with spinal injuries and neurological conditions
- We create sustainable teams to ensure that if a member of the team is sick or on annual leave, there will be someone on the care team available that is known and trained to the bespoke needs of the care package
- Recruitment adverts are created specific to an individual’s needs and interviews are held with the direct involvement of that person requiring the care package/family/case manager
- We provide a high level of training to meet the identified care needs
- Each care package has their own dedicated specialist Care Manager and Clinical Nurse along with an out of hours emergency support line
- We have a proven track record and extensive experience of complex care provision which helps individuals achieve the life they choose
- The satisfaction of our clients is critical to us and demonstrated by the fact that most of our clients have been with us for long periods of time. See also Testimonials from Clients and Support Workers
- We pay all of our staff an hourly rate rather than a ‘weekly allowance’
