Our introductory agency status
Our introductory agency status
Arranging and maintaining care at home for a loved one can be unnecessarily complicated and costly, but it doesn’t have to be. At Elder, we’re here to break the mould.
Quick overview
Elder is recognised as an introductory agency. We’re here to help match and introduce you to a self-employed care professional, and help the ongoing relationship run smoothly.
It means you direct and control the management of care on a daily basis. But you’re not alone – we’re here to empower you with your own MyElder account, a specialist family support team, and on-going clinical diligence.
What is an introductory agency?
In Great Britain there are three independent bodies that regulate certain health and social care activities.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) – England only
The Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)
The Care Inspectorate Scotland (CIS)
Elder is a trusted online marketplace that connects families and self-employed carers – enabling one-to-one personalised care at home for loved ones. At Elder we help families and self-employed carers do three critical things safely: (1) find each other (2) match with each other and (3) manage their ongoing relationship directly.
The CQC, CIW, and CIS therefore recognise Elder as an introductory agency, and registering with these independent bodies isn’t required.
- Help you or your loved one find a suitable self-employed carer
- Help source a replacement or substitute professional, as required, on an on-going basis.
- Provide payroll services for you and your self-employed carer.
- Provide support services for you and your self-employed carer to help you with your own care management
- Conduct regular check-ins to make sure you and your family are happy with the introductory agency service
- Directly provide training, implement mandatory training, or manage the performance of self-employed carers
- Create a care plan based on the needs of the care recipient
- Advise, direct or change how a self-employed carer provides care
- Act as an advocate for the care recipient, changing the care received or providing care advice
- Review or manage the care plan in consultation with the individual
Self-employed carers and medication
It’s Elder’s position that self-employed carers who use our platform to connect to care recipients can only prompt the care recipients to take their medication, as we don’t assess the self-employed carer’s skill base/qualifications for administering medication.
At Elder, we can only suggest to self-employed carers that they obtain the necessary training and skills to enable them to provide medication support to our clients.
As an introductory agency, we have no ability to insist or mandate that this training is undertaken by self-employed carers and the customer and care recipient, if they wish to proceed with the self-employed carer’s services, do so on the understanding that Elder has no oversight, control or management of this aspect of care.
Any ongoing requirement to provide medication support is therefore a matter to be discussed and agreed between the customer, self-employed carer and the care recipient.
So, what does this mean for you?
As an introductory marketplace, our role is to promote a safe introduction between families and carers. This includes verifying that carers are who they say they are by collecting proof of address, background checks, clean enhanced DBS, and right to work documentation.
We want the relationship between you and your chosen care team to be successful and effortless:
So, we provide the tools for you to manage your care schedule, review, vet and select carers, and share critical care related information with your chosen carers - all in MyElder.
We want to be there for you when it matters most.
That’s why at Elder HQ, we have a robust team of support for families and self-employed carers on our platform. This can be when circumstances change, for unexpected emergencies, or if there are any concerns. It’s simple: we want to help you find and maintain safe, trusted, and reliable care for your loved one in the place where they feel safest, home.
We understand concerns arise from time to time
Which is why we have developed a thorough safeguarding process led by our Designated Safeguarding Lead. We review where self-employed carers accessing our platform fall short of our expected standards and take appropriate steps to ensure the average quality of carer on our platform remains five star.
You remain in control, we provide the tools to make that easy, safe, and affordable.
