Personal Care at Home

Personal care is practical support with washing, dressing, and personal hygiene, delivered at home by a consistent carer. It means starting the day with dignity, on your own terms. Visits from 30 minutes. From £17 a call.

Most people who contact us have been thinking about it for a while. Something has changed, a fall, a hospital stay, a gradual shift in what Mum or Dad can manage on their own, and the question becomes whether staying at home is still possible. Personal care, done well, is usually the thing that makes it so.

What personal care involves

Personal care visits are arranged around the client’s own routine. A carer arrives at an agreed time, supports with whatever is needed, and leaves when the visit is complete. The specifics, timing, tasks and preferences, are agreed at assessment, and adjusted over the first few weeks until the arrangement feels right.

Depending on what’s agreed in the care plan, visits can include:

• Washing, bathing or showering, including hair washing
• Getting dressed and undressed, including choosing what to wear
• Oral hygiene, shaving and personal grooming
• Getting up in the morning and going to bed at night
• Continence care and toileting support (more detail on our continence care page)
• Skin care, including application of prescribed creams where part of the care plan
• Preparing or warming meals and encouraging regular eating and drinking
• Medication prompting at agreed times (see our medication support page)
• Mobility assistance and transfers, where the care plan allows

Personal care doesn’t include nursing procedures, clinical wound care, or catheter management. Where those are needed, the district nurse or GP team is the right contact. Our complex care service covers situations where the line between personal and clinical care is less clear.

Most often arranged for clients who:

• Need support with washing, dressing, or personal hygiene following illness, injury, or reduced mobility
• Are living with dementia and benefit from a consistent, familiar carer who knows their routine
• Have recently come home from hospital and are rebuilding their daily routine
• Choose to stay at home but need a steady hand at the start or end of the day
• Are a family carer who needs reliable cover to rest, work, or simply have time away

Privacy and dignity

Needing support with washing or dressing is one of the most personal changes a person can face. Our carers understand that. The way a visit is handled, the pace, the conversation, what is asked before it is done, matters as much as what is done.

In practice:

• Carers knock and wait before entering a room
• They ask what the person prefers before acting, and follow that preference
• They cover the person appropriately throughout
• They work at the person’s pace, not the schedule’s
• They respect choices about clothing, grooming and routine, even when those differ from family preferences
• Care details stay confidential unless the person has given consent

“She always asks Mum what she wants to wear and never rushes her. That matters enormously to us as a family.”

— Daughter of a client in Southwell

The same familiar faces

We aim to keep each client’s care team to a maximum of four familiar carers. Introductions are done before care starts wherever possible. When a regular carer is off, cover comes from our wider directly employed team. We never use agency staff.

In personal care, consistency matters more than almost anywhere else. A face that’s known, a routine that’s understood, a carer who notices when something is different. Read more about how we keep care familiar and consistent.

Planned around your routines

Everyone has a way they like to do things. Some people prefer a bath at night. Others need breakfast before getting dressed. Some have skin routines they’ve kept for decades. Personal care that ignores those preferences isn’t support. It’s an imposition.

Before care starts, we take time to understand the person’s preferences, the sequence they find comfortable, and anything carers should know about mobility, communication, or memory. That shapes the care plan and is shared with every carer involved.

Care plans aren’t fixed documents. When preferences shift or needs increase, we update the plan and brief carers accordingly. Families can follow carer notes and visit records in real time through the Birdie app. More about how family updates work.

Starting with a little, building from there

Personal care doesn’t have to begin with a full morning routine. Many people start with one or two visits a week, help with a shower, say, and build from there as the arrangement becomes familiar.

A regular carer, the same face, the same time, the same unhurried approach, tends to be accepted sooner than most families expect. Our 30-minute visit works well for focused tasks. Longer visits suit more complex routines, or where companionship is part of the day too.

We’ll be honest about which visit length is likely to work for the situation.

Visit fees start at £17 for a 30-minute visit and £31 per hour. A £2.50 travel fee applies per visit. Personal care is VAT-exempt. See our full costs and funding page for detail on private care, Direct Payments and NHS Continuing Healthcare.

Personal care and dementia

For people living with dementia, personal care can be one of the harder parts of the day. Not because of the tasks themselves, but because an unfamiliar face or a break in routine can increase anxiety. What looks like resistance is often communication.

Consistent carers, familiar sequences, and a calm approach make a real difference. Our carers are trained in dementia-informed care and understand how to read what’s happening. Read more about dementia care at home.

How to get started

Frequently asked questions

What is personal care at home?

Personal care at home means a trained carer visiting to help with washing, dressing, continence care, grooming, and getting up or going to bed. It’s support with the tasks that have become difficult to manage alone, delivered in the person’s own home, at their pace, planned around their preferences.

Can a carer help with washing and dressing every day?

Yes. A daily morning call is one of the most common arrangements we put in place. Visit frequency is agreed at assessment based on need and preference. We can arrange daily visits, specific days of the week, or multiple calls in a day where that’s what’s needed.

Will my parent see the same carer each time?

We aim to keep each client’s care team to a maximum of four familiar carers. Introductions are done before care begins. When a regular carer is unavailable, cover comes from our wider directly employed team, never from agency staff.

How long does a personal care visit take?

Our minimum visit is 30 minutes, which suits focused tasks like a morning wash and getting dressed. Visits of 45 minutes or an hour suit more complex routines, or when companionship is also part of what’s needed. We’ll advise on what’s realistic at assessment.

What does personal care cost in Newark?

From £17 for a 30-minute visit and £31 per hour, plus a £2.50 travel fee per visit. Personal care is VAT-exempt. Funding options include private self-funded care, Direct Payments, and NHS Continuing Healthcare for those who qualify. Full detail on our costs and funding page.

Can carers help with continence care?

Yes. Continence support is part of personal care and handled with discretion and respect. For more detail, see our continence care page.

We provide personal care in Newark, Grantham, Bingham, Retford, Ollerton and Southwell and the surrounding villages. Call 01636 646915 or request a care assessment to talk through your family member’s needs.