BEXLEY: New on-line help to find care (From News Shopper)

BEXLEY: New on-line help to find care

6:53pm Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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A COMMUNITY trust has joined forces with Bexley Council to launch a new website to help people find their own home care.

Two years ago the council took a decision to stop providing home care for people who needed it, through its block provider Care Partners Trust.

Instead it decided people who qualified for financial help from the council for their personal needs such as getting up, getting washed and dressed and eating meals, would instead be allocated the money to enable them to organise their own care and choose who they want to buy it from.

But Bexley has acknowledged the process of finding the right care and support can be time consuming and daunting.

So it has joined forces with Inspire Community Trust to develop the new website where it says clients or their family or carer, can access information about social care quickly and easily.

The website contains details of home care services, transport providers, equipment services, community safety and rights advice.

People will be able to find out about the range of helpful services and the local organisations which provide them.

They can browse through the options and decide what suits them best.

People can then click on the links and get more details about the their chosen options and how much they cost.

In addition, the site has lots of other useful information about leisure activities, adult education, local clubs, support for carers and other services.

The council says because the information will be available in the evenings at at weekends, it will make the search for care much easier for carers and family members.

Councillor David Hurt, Bexley’s cabinet member for health and adult social care said: “I am delighted we have this resource at our fingertips.

“This website will make it so much easier to find suitable care services all in one place.”

The council and the trust are now looking for feedback from users of the site, to help them improve it and develop it further.

Comments can be sent to Inspire, via the contact us link on the website, which can be found at shop4carebexley.co.uk