Wendy’s story – moving from hourly care

She was in hospital for three months in the end. It was then decided by the NHS and family that it was no longer safe for her to live alone – her mobility just wasn’t the same.

I wasn’t sure how to go about finding full-time care. I just knew Mum didn’t want to go to a care home. I searched care at home online and came across Elder. The reviews looked great and I decided to give them a call and spoke to Gus (a care advisor).

The carer is important, because it’s different if someone is just popping in a few times a day but when it’s live-in care, you take it more seriously. The main thing for me was having carers who are genuinely caring and really listen to Mum.

Mum wasn’t sure about carers of different nationalities at first, she had some preconceptions, but I knew that a lot of carers tend to be from different places, so we said we would give it a try. We just needed them to speak clearly as Mum is quite deaf!

Gus sent over the profile and video for a carer called Violet. It reassured me that she was definitely worth meeting. 

When Violet took a break, we found our respite carer, called Suleekha. She has been brilliant too. We had a lovely Christmas together and we made her a special vegetarian Christmas dinner as her Muslim religion means she doesn’t eat meat. When she returned from a break, she brought back a scarf as a present for me and mum! She is lovely.

Violet and Suleekha have both got to know Mum’s ways now and she has got to know them. They’re both such warm personalities and they’re always smiling and having fun with mum. They are like part of the family now and we hope we can continue to have them for a long time.

*Wendy Beck, an Elder Customer, talking about care for her mum Pam*

Wendy’s live-in care story

Wendy talks further about her decision to arrange care with us. She discusses how live-in carer works, what she was looking for in a live-in carer and how life has been since they decided on an alternative to the care home.