Home Instead UK Reviews 178

Where to start?! My late Gran's niece caused the initial mess by sticking her nose in where it wasn't wanted, or needed, and tried to arrange alternative care for my then 95-year-old Gran behind my back (without doing any actual legwork!), even though I was dealing effectively with Gran's care already (and had done for nearly 20 years). Furthermore, at the time of these events, Gran was being cared for in hospital but immediately prior to this had been in respite care in a care home, since she had ailments that meant she could not live at home and the outlook was permanent care in a care home, NOT home care. I was Gran's carer/next-of-kin/POA. The Manager of Live-In Care, Home Instead Glasgow, Stirling, Perth, Ayr and Falkirk (whom we'll call S) started visiting Gran without my knowledge to discuss live-in home care, and I only found out about these visits by chance - just in time too. S ended up preying on Gran - a very elderly, weak and vulnerable person - directly with unethical and aggressive sales tactics, and I believe this is because Gran told S that she had money that her late husband AND late son had left her, and because she had been deemed as having mental capacity, even though she did not have the capacity to manage her own financial affairs - I dealt with this side of things as her carer/POA. S hid behind Gran's 'capacity' which became her line of defence. I had to step in to stop the nonsense before it went too far. In the end, I sent a MASSIVE complaint email to the Care Inspectorate who passed it to management at Home Instead. The Group Operations Manager sympathetically acknowledged and apologised that the situation had caused me stress and worry, and though S lied through her teeth about her conduct, he prevented S from continuing to pursue this lead. In addition, due to my concerns about S, I had to ask that hospital staff, care home staff and the social worker alert me should they find S speaking to or visiting Gran. SPECIFICS: S did not feel the need to get in touch with Gran's POA/next-of-kin (me), or do a financial assessment, or carry out a risk assessment at Gran's house, or have anyone witness conversations or join in with meetings, nor was she intending to have anyone witness the signing of any forms/agreements (which thankfully never happened but it was close - my Gran couldn't even see the forms!!) S was hesitant to provide me with information when requested (financial or otherwise), and there was no information left for Gran at the hospital or care home for me to see. From conversations with her, I don't believe Gran fully understood the costs, what having a live-in carer meant for her and her home, e.g. what service she was to receive and what changes had to be made to her home, and what privacy and security concerns this arrangement could cause. What information I did finally receive from S was vague. S was pushing to start the service only a week and a half after I got in touch with her (once I found out what was going on) even though Gran did NOT have an agreed discharge date from the hospital and there was NO agreed plan for her continuing care at that point. S caused great confusion with hospital staff who thought Gran had home care arranged when she did not. S even had the gall to ask me for a set of keys to Gran's house and sent me a Direct Debit form to complete! I was SPEECHLESS. I'd never even met the woman and I was to let her and who knows who else into Gran's home?! Plus, as if all of this isn't enough to put people off, it turns out that carers are not always fully qualified to SVQ Level 3 and are often working towards this - therefore you could end up with a 'carer' who started at college yesterday. Don't worry - you can REQUEST A FULLY QUALIFIED CARER (yes, I was actually told this).
Please be very wary of Home Instead and DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE LETTING SOMEONE LIKE 'S' OR AN UNQUALIFIED CARER INTO YOUR FAMILY'S LIFE. *I have emails to prove the majority of the information I have provided in this review, which were used as evidence for my complaint to the Care Inspectorate. Other conversations with S were by phone. None were in person.

Didn’t have the appropriate training when first started, they didn’t sort my references out before I started going to my visit. When sharing concerns to managers they accused my behaviour as negative and didn’t follow through what they said they would do to deal with the problem. They have shown unprofessionalism in the WhatsApp groups and shown favouritism between their carers. Poor communication with carers or clients families/ friends. They have a very unprofessional attitude towards others and they like to talk in a very rude manner about colleagues and clients in their meetings. They allow their staff to work over contracted hours without the carers consent which has led to issues with myself that they don’t even recognise.

I have only good to say about the Shrewsbury, Ludlow and Oswestry franchise. The office staff is friendly and approachable and really looks after their Care Pros. I would absolutely recommend this franchise as a workplace!

After working for home instead I realised their ethos of having franchised managers in each branch is not for the clients benefit, only the management, who are businessmen not carers, lining their pockets with inflated care hour fees, charging almost £35 per hour to the client and paying the care staff £11, so the more clients the more money is going into the untrained management's pocket.
The office is a toxic place to work with other staff bullying and belittling colleagues, I would never recommend the company to service users or carers, as its all about the money not the care with them.

Carers were lovely but the management are a disgrace. They took money out of my Mum's account even when she stopped using the service and moved into a care home. I emailed the manager 3 times but never got a reply. Apparently you can only email her and can't speak to her. I will be taking it further as taking £1,600.00 out of a 100 year old women's bank account when she doesn't owe it is a scandal perhaps they thought they would get away with it.

Untrained staff who has no experience in health sector. With all review from this company I think they are a link to failure. Even client is complaining imagine investors what will they be going through.

There are lot to say but I keep it short. AVOID!!! Stay away. Don't even work for them.

They are playing they are very supportative and nice to their employees' and clients'. But, in reality, they do care about their inflated office and money only. They can send you a recognition paper with the same client you took care of if you made a profit to the office. Equally, they can sack you rising allegations against you with the same client. That is most contraversial company I worked for. The office is there not to protect their employee's and client's well- being. They are here just to find a new money giver for their business. I would not recommend their service for any clients or carers. Non of you are protected by Home Instead as they declare you are.

Warrington homeinstead branch have changed my regularly slot to times that are totally unsuitable to me. I’ve tried to reason with them to no avail. I’ve always accommodated them when they have had problems in the past and feel really let down. They’ve also increased the cost by £3 per hour.
I’m now in the process of searching for another care company.
I’ve been with homestead Warrington for six years now, but I feel really let down.

Overnight care for my sister in Doncaster.
Ladies are lovely, friendly and professional.
Can't fault them.
The company are readily accessible for any issues or information updates.
Have an app for me to view her care.

They lack communication skills and apparently do NOT adhere to the preference for mode of contact indicated on their contact form. I indicated on the form that I wanted to be contacted by email yet someone called me and said something that I felt was insulting.

i would like to hear from others who have been scammed by this ridiculous care provider.
My 85 year mum had a huge infected foot which was undetected even with 3 carer visits each week.
The response from this company was absolutely ridiculous.
We will follow up with legal action.

Awful agency. I explained that I did not feel capable of certain tasks e.g. personal care and would prefer a befriending role. They agreed to my preference. However, on the 1st day I was left alone with a client after only 1 hour of shadowing and told that I would need to help them to the toilet and to take care of personal care.
I was not told that they had bowel cancer and was left to my own devices and without proper training.
The reviews on the website (Home instead Westminster office in Borough) are fake! The small team leave reviews and are silly enough to print their actual names. The office manager is a horrible piece of work, who gruels you like a criminal after having an induction, without any prior warning of even meeting with you beforehand. I lasted all but one day after realising they have little respect for their care team.

Totally poor experience. Hide behind every word in the contract they make you sign. Care Average. Carers misappropriated monies. Closed ranks and terminate contract with us with 5 days notice. Had to find alternate arranges for my mum which we couldn't in this period. Flat left in a filthy condition. So sad we trusted this company

Working for this company for has put me under a ridiculous amount of stress when I started they knew I couldn’t drive and advertised the job as a walker and I was told I would have local clients… I was very wrong always sending me on long journeys to get to clients (costing me a lot of money!)
When I went back to education they said they could accommodate and work with me but constantly called me whilst I was in classes and asked me to come on when I would be on also putting me on calls without even asking and expecting me to just do it. When I stood up for myself and put my foot down they gave me 1 client a week that’s past a joke!!!!
Handed my notice in and told me if I didn’t do the certain shifts they wanted me to do (which they never asked me to do either) they would give me a bad reference when going for a new job!

On the whole, the 24 hour 1;1 care given was good, if not consistent.
Staff would come and go, staff retention seems to be an issue but in our experience it seems to be the management that is the issue.
We had raised several complaints that were never even responded to by the pervious management. The new management is not much better. Rude, shows no compassion and is 100% money focused.
Our relative had to go into a nursing home and yet we still had to pay for the 4 week notice with no reduction in the fee as she was no longer receiving the 24 hour care, and so in essence she was charged £6500 for nothing!
Shame on you HomeInstead!
When we asked what the money was to cover we were just told “it’s in the contract”
So basically, nothing.
We will be taking this further.
Lesson learnt.
Choose wisely for your loved ones.

Would not recommend this company. All I ever hear is complaints from other staff and pretty much all of my clients who have capacity. If I knew a company were treating my relative the way these do to the clients we're trying to look after I'd report them. If only clients families knew.
Communication's always been non-existent and still is despite us carers telling the office all the time. They seem to go through staff like there's no tomorrow both in the office and out on care so it's no wonder that by the time you chase up an update on something, the person dealing with it isn't there any more.
We had a few staff where I thought things would change but of course these have now gone, replaced by staff who fit more into the theme of brushing everything under the carpet.
Just feel like we're lied to all the time. There are a handful of favoured staff (those who keep their trap shut/brown-nose office), and the rest are extremely overworked and nobody cares.

Will add that I know all Home Insteads are owned by different people and people's experiences and values will vary a lot from office to office. My experience is with the Wetherby office, I can't comment on others.

Care givers are lovely and obviously work under a lot of pressure seemingly caused by a chaotic management structure.
Despite initial promises at the first meeting of what a great service they’ll provide. Homeinstead sadly did not meet expectations.
They’re very quick to take money from your bank account for care hours they haven’t given. Trying to get the monies refunded is met with silence.
They’re far too overpriced for the standard of care they actually provide. Backup response from local office (Hingham) and head office was zero.
Save your money and look for care of your loved one elsewhere.

I arranged a first meeting with myself, my mother and a manager from Home Instead (Wirral). The manager did not arrive for the meeting. Neither did I receive any message to say that she couldn't attend. I phoned her office half an hour after the meeting should have begun and was told that the manager couldn't speak to me as she was on the phone. When I pointed out that the manager should have been with me and not on the phone, the person I spoke to said that they were short staffed and that the manager was covering calls. I left my mobile number for the manager to call me back. She did not do so. It's now more than 24 hours since the meeting and I've still received no message and no apology. As you can guess, I will not be using this company to provide support for mum. Their leaflet is in the recycling.

Poor communication from this team despite attempts over and over again to clarify my mother’s needs. Would not recommend.