Independent living

Care at home – day services, enabling and personal care

Looking for services?

Refer to our useful lists of services, groups and clubs in Devon.

Daycare services

Day centres provide recreational activities for those that would like to socialise in a friendly and supportive environment. Day care services offer support for the elderly and people with dementia, learning disabilities or brain injuries.

Enabling and personal care

Some people will need just a little support such as help with cleaning, preparing a meal, or help with shopping. This is usually unregulated support, which we call enabling. Others will require more support such as help with personal care.

Most people want to retain their independence by living at home, in a community they are familiar with. We want to ensure that you can continue to do so, as effectively and safely as possible.

Enabling services

As enablers, we aim to make normal day-to-day life easier. Some things start to become more of a struggle whether it would be getting into town to do the shopping, ensuring you have a hot nutritious meal or maybe it’s just as simple as keeping your home tidy. Enabling offers a range of services to ensure you have more independence in your own home.

Keeping on top of bills and finances can be a hassle, ensuring correspondence, bill paying and paperwork are kept up to date. Additional support that is not regulated.

Personal care

If you have problems bathing, washing or dressing, even with help from equipment, you may need extra help.

A paid carer could help you get washed, dressed, prepare meals or other eligible activities. This is regulated activity which is monitored by CQC.

Due to the workforce shortages in health and social care, we ask that you are flexible in relation to both the time care visits can be provided and the person that delivers your care. This will help us best meet your care needs as quickly as possible along with those of as many other people as possible. The support we arrange can be put in place at various times of the day. You may require more than one visit and we have divided the day into the following periods in which visits will take place:

  • Morning (7.00 am – 11.00 am)
  • Lunchtime (11.01 am – 3.00 pm)
  • Teatime (3.01 pm – 6.00 pm)
  • Evening (6.01 pm – 10.00 pm)

The providers we contract with will carefully plan when they can visit you based on the information we have provided to them and the demands on their service. We will confirm the specific time(s) of your home care visit(s) with you.

We would ask you to be as flexible as possible when agreeing on visiting arrangements, to help us arrange the best support for you and as many other people as possible. Any time-specific support keeping you safe and well, such as being ready to attend day care, will be taken into consideration.

The home care agencies we work with will always try to accommodate these visits. All care arrangements are reviewed regularly to ensure the appropriateness of the support provided. We may sometimes need to talk to you about changes to your care or to the time of your visits. We will always discuss significant changes with you and anyone else associated with your care.

Please note that if we fail to agree on support with you because of the proposed visiting time offered, we may be unable to guarantee an alternative offer.

I want care through social care services

Do you face challenges in your life? Or do you need advice for a family member?

Why not try our self-help tool? 

By answering some questions about your current situation, we can direct you towards information, advice and services that could help you to live independently and improve your life. This could include useful telephone numbers and ideas from us in adult social care.

How can you access the online self-assessment?

Use the self-help tool, if you have two or more needs then the tool will offer you our online self-assessment.

If you do not want advice or information from the self-help tool or to complete an online self-assessment, but about something else, please talk to us via Adult Social Care on 0345 155 1007 to discuss your needs.

I want to arrange and fund my own care

You can choose to find or employ your own personal assistant to support you with your care needs if you want to. Alternatively, you could look at employing a cleaner if you simply need help with domestic tasks.

You can find a list of local cleaners on websites like:

These websites show reviews of services (you will have to use your own judgement about how good or reliable the reviews are when reading them).

Most home care service charge for each visit, and it can cost more if you need support that takes two people to help.

There are many good sources of advice to help make buying home care easy and straightforward.

Planning your support

If you are eligible for services, we’ll work together to create a care plan detailing your needs and how to meet them.

If you have been assessed as needing care in your home, then when we discuss your support plan. You may decide, the best option, is to have some or all of your care and support managed by Social Care.

Once you have a support plan we will do a financial assessment to look at the amount you will need to pay for care services. You can then choose to have services directly and pay us for them, or have direct payments and organise your own services.

Where social care manages your support, we will arrange for it to be provided by home care providers with who we have a contract. We call this ‘commissioned care’.

The providers offering commissioned care and support, on our behalf, are registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means they are inspected to ensure you receive the highest possible standard of care.

The most suitable person for you

Personal care is a very sensitive and private matter, right down to the care worker who provides it. We appreciate that some people have a preference as to the gender or other attributes of their care worker.

Like other health services, we will always do our best to meet your preference(s), however, we cannot guarantee that will always be the case. In these circumstances, if we cannot agree on a support offer with you it could affect either the provider’s ability to support you safely at home or DCC’s ability to guarantee an alternative offer. Once again, we ask that you are as flexible as possible when agreeing your support.

Dignity and respect

We always expect the providers we work with and their staff to treat you with dignity and respect. We also expect you to give the same respect to the staff members that support you. Hostile or threatening behaviour towards staff could result in your care and support being withdrawn by that provider, and an alternative provider may not be available to take over your care and support.

Delivery of services

Providers will always try to visit you at the time that has been agreed. Due to circumstances beyond their control, such as unforeseen emergencies or travel delays, their staff may be delayed in getting to you. If your visit is going to be delayed for more than 30 minutes, you will be notified by either the care agency or staff member.

Paying for care

Most people who receive care and support, regardless of whether it is managed by Social Care or not, will have to pay something towards the cost of that care and support. If you are assessed as needing care and support, we will then assess how much you need to pay towards the care. You can find out more at Paying for care.

What if I have a problem with my services?

If you are not satisfied with the care given, please talk to your provider in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with their response, please contact Devon County Council who will direct your concern to the most appropriate person. You can also share your experience with the Care Quality Commission.

Reporting a concern

If you report a safeguarding concern you will be listened to, supported, and involved in any decisions. If you think that you or someone you know is being abused or neglected, you should report your concern. In an emergency always call 999.

Self-directed support

Remember, even if you have commissioned care initially, you can if you felt you would like more choice, flexibility and control, choose to organise and manage all or some of your care yourself (with help from a carer or relative as required). You can find more information about taking responsibility for managing your own care and support at self-directed support and direct payments.