Personal care at home

Care that lets you stay where you want to be.

Jacket Healthcare is a home care service for adults across Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and the adjoining parts of Hertfordshire. We are registered with the Care Quality Commission, our carers are employed by us, and our prices are on this website.

Arrange a free visit See our fees

Six things we will tell you that most agencies won’t

Choosing care for yourself or a parent usually means ringing three agencies and getting three versions of the same answer. Here is ours, in writing, before you call.

Every carer is employed by us.We do not use agency staff and we do not use self-employed carers. The person at your door is on our payroll, trained by us and accountable to us.
Thirty minutes is our shortest visit.We don’t do fifteen-minute calls. There is very little you can do with dignity in fifteen minutes, and we would rather say so than sell you one.
We pay our carers for travel time.Travel between visits is paid as working time. It costs us more and it is the reason our carers are not watching the clock in your hallway.
You’ll see a small, familiar team.We match a few consistent carers to each person rather than sending whoever is free. And you can ask for a different carer at any time, without giving a reason.
Our prices are published.Every rate is on the fees page, including evenings, weekends, nights and bank holidays. No joining fee and no charge for the assessment.
The registered manager comes to you.Your first visit is with Too, our registered manager, not a salesperson. She writes the care plan with you and you keep a copy.

Coming out of hospital?

Discharges are rarely convenient and often come with a day’s notice. Ring us as soon as you know the date — we can usually assess the same week and start within a few days, and we’ll tell you straight away if we can’t.

Call 07512 845305

How it works

First — you call

Tell us what’s happening. We’ll be straight with you about whether we’re the right service. If we’re not, we’ll say so and point you somewhere better.

Then — we visit

A free visit at home, at a time that suits you, with anyone you’d like present. We look at what you need, what you’d rather do yourself, and what matters to you day to day.

Then — care starts

You agree the care plan and keep a copy at home. We introduce your carers before they start. We review with you at six weeks, then every six months, and whenever things change.

Who we support

We provide personal care to adults aged 18 and over in their own homes.

Older people

Aged 65 and over — help with washing and dressing, medicines, meals, mobility and the routine of the day.

Younger adults

Aged 18 to 64 — support built around work, study, family and independence, not around our convenience.

People with a physical disability

Including support with transfers, equipment and personal care, delivered by carers trained for it.

Being honest about what we don’t do. We are registered for these three groups only. We are not a specialist dementia, learning disability, autism or mental health service, and we don’t provide nursing care or care to under-18s. If your needs fall outside what we can meet safely, we will tell you at the first conversation and help you find a service that can.

Common questions

How quickly can care start?: Usually within a few days of the assessment visit, depending on the times you need and the carers we have available in your area. If we can’t start when you need us to, we’ll tell you that rather than take the booking and hope.
Is there a contract or a notice period?: No long-term contract and no tie-in. We ask for reasonable notice to end or change a regular visit so we can plan carers’ work fairly, and it’s set out clearly before you agree anything.
Will I always have the same carer?: You’ll have a small named team rather than one person, because nobody works seven days a week. We aim for the same few faces, and we tell you in advance when it will be someone different.
What if I don’t get on with a carer?: Tell us and we’ll change them. You don’t need to explain why and it will not affect your care in any way.
Do you charge for the assessment?: No. The assessment visit and your care plan are free, and there is no joining fee.
Can you help with medicines?: Yes — from reminding you, to helping you open packaging, to administering medicines and recording them. What we do is agreed with you and written into your care plan, and every carer is trained and assessed as competent before they support anyone with medicines.
Who do I ring outside office hours?: The same number — 07512 845305. There is someone on call at all times the service is running.

Talk to us before you decide.

A conversation costs nothing and there is no obligation. If we’re not the right service for you, we’ll say so.

Call 07512 845305 Send us a message

Our care

What we do, and how we do it.

Everything is built around one care plan, written with you, kept in your home, and reviewed as things change.

Personal care

This is the regulated service we are registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide.

Washing and dressing

Help with bathing, showering and washing
Grooming, shaving, hair and skin care
Dressing and undressing
Getting up in the morning and settling at night

Continence and toileting

Discreet support with toileting
Continence care and skin protection
Changing and disposal handled respectfully

Medicines

Reminding and prompting
Helping with packaging and containers
Administering and recording medicines
Noticing and reporting changes in health

Eating, drinking and moving

Preparing meals and drinks
Support with eating and staying hydrated
Help moving around the home, including with equipment
Two carers where a safe transfer needs them

Practical and social support

Often booked alongside personal care. These are not regulated services in their own right, and we say so plainly rather than blurring the line.

Around the house

Light domestic tasks connected to your visit
Laundry, washing up, tidying
Shopping, with receipts and change accounted for

Company and routine

Time to talk, unhurried
Help keeping up the things you enjoy
Support to stay in touch with family and friends

How we work

A care plan is only person-centred if the person arriving has read it and knows you.

Your care plan

Written with you after a face-to-face assessment at home
Records what you can do as well as what you need help with
Includes how you like things done, not just what needs doing
Agreed and signed by you — and you keep a copy
Reviewed at six weeks, then every six months, and whenever anything changes

Your rights with us

To be called by the name you choose
To privacy during personal care, and to read post and take calls privately
To request a carer of a particular sex for personal care
To look after your own medicines and money where you are able
To take everyday risks, supported rather than prevented
To raise a concern without it affecting your care

Not sure what you need yet?

Most people aren’t. That’s what the assessment visit is for, and it’s free.

Call 07512 845305 See our fees

Fees

Our prices, in full.

Most home care websites ask you to call for a quote. We’d rather you knew before you picked up the phone.

Standard rates — weekdays, 7am to 8pm
Visit	Price
30 minutes — our shortest visit	£16.00
45 minutes	£24.00
1 hour	£32.00

Evenings, weekends and nights
When	Hourly
After 8pm and at weekends	£35.20
Waking night	£36.80
Bank holidays	£48.00
Two carers, where a safe transfer needs them	Twice the rate

Included at no extra cost

The assessment visit and your written care plan
Reviews at six weeks, then every six months
Someone on call, day and night
All carer training, DBS checks and insurance
Carers’ travel time between visits

What we don’t charge for

There is no joining or registration fee
There is no charge to change your carer
There is no charge for a care plan review
There is no minimum contract length

What will it cost me?

Set the visits you think you need and we’ll show you the weekly and monthly cost. It’s an estimate, not a quote — but it will be close.

How long is each visit? minutes 1 hour How many visits a day? a day Type any number How many days a week? days 1 to 7

Each visit£0

Per week£0

Per month£0

Invoicing. We invoice for the care actually delivered. Late cancellation terms are set out in writing before you agree anything, so there are no surprises. If we miss or shorten a visit, you are not charged for it.

How this compares locally. Home care agencies across Bedfordshire typically charge between £28 and £35 an hour. We sit in the middle of that range deliberately. We could charge less, but not while paying our carers properly for their travel time between visits — and that is the difference between a carer who arrives on time and one who is already late when they knock.

We are a private-pay service. We are not currently on a local authority framework, so we don’t take council-funded packages — if your care is arranged by the council, they will point you to their approved providers.

Paying for care — the basics

Might the council pay for some of this?: Possibly. Anyone can ask their council for a free needs assessment, and there is a means test. In England the upper capital threshold is currently £23,250 — above it, most people fund their own care. It is always worth asking, and asking does not commit you to anything.
What about Attendance Allowance?: If you are over State Pension age and need help with personal care, Attendance Allowance is not means-tested and does not depend on your savings or income. A great many people who qualify never claim it. Age UK can help you apply.
Can I start small and increase later?: Yes, and most people do. Many start with one visit a day and build from there. Changing your visits doesn’t cost anything.
How do I pay?: By invoice, usually monthly or fortnightly, by bank transfer or standing order. We do not ask carers to handle payments and our carers never take cash for care.

Want a written quote?

Tell us the visits you think you need and we’ll put the weekly cost in writing before anyone comes out.

Call 07512 845305 Request a quote

About us

A small service, run by the people who answer the phone.

Jacket Healthcare Ltd is an independent, family-run home care service based in Bedford. We started it because we had both seen what happens when rotas are built around postcodes instead of people.

Who runs it

Registered Manager & Nominated Individual

Too

Too began in care as a healthcare assistant, delivering personal care and supporting people with their medicines, before moving into safer recruitment for an NHS trust and then into service delivery leadership in regulated home care. She is registered with the Care Quality Commission as the manager of this service, she is our designated safeguarding lead, and she is working towards the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Adult Care. She carries out the first assessment visit personally.

Director

Kate

Kate is our second director and provides independent oversight of the service. She is the named deputy for safeguarding, she reviews our quality audits, and she handles any complaint that concerns the registered manager — so that nobody at Jacket Healthcare investigates a concern about themselves.

How we choose our carers

Safe care starts long before anyone reaches your front door.

Before they work unsupervised

An enhanced DBS check including the adults’ barred list
Proof of identity and the right to work in the UK
Two references, taken up directly with the employer
Evidence of conduct in any previous care role
A full employment history with any gaps explained
Induction against the Care Certificate, assessed in the workplace

And after they start

Annual training in safeguarding, moving and handling, medicines and infection control
Observed practice — watched doing the job, not just tested on it
Regular one-to-one supervision and an annual appraisal
Spot checks in people’s homes, announced and unannounced
No one supports anyone with medicines until assessed as competent

Regulation and complaints

We are registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activity of personal care. The CQC is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. You can look us up, and check any provider you are considering, at www.cqc.org.uk.

Our CQC provider ID is 1-29175288169. Search for it on the CQC website to see our registration for yourself — we would encourage you to check ours, and everyone else’s.

If something goes wrong

Tell us. You can speak to your carer, ring the office, email, write, or ask a relative or advocate to raise it for you. We acknowledge every complaint in writing within two working days and give a full written response within twenty working days. If you are not satisfied you can go to the Care Quality Commission, or to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, who can investigate home care complaints free of charge. You do not have to come to us first, and complaining will never affect the care you receive.

Areas we cover

Bedfordshire, and just over the border.

We keep our rounds tight on purpose. Short distances between visits mean carers arrive on time and aren’t cutting your visit short to reach the next one.

Bedford Borough

Bedford, Kempston, Brickhill, Putnoe, Great Denham, Biddenham, Elstow, Wootton, Bromham, Clapham, Sharnbrook and the surrounding villages.

Central Bedfordshire

Ampthill, Flitwick, Shefford, Biggleswade, Sandy, Arlesey, Stotfold, Cranfield, Marston Moretaine, Silsoe and nearby.

North Hertfordshire

The adjoining parts of north Hertfordshire, including Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston.

Do we cover your postcode?

Type the first part — for example MK42 or SG5.

Not sure if we reach you? Ring and ask. If you’re just outside our area we’ll tell you honestly rather than stretch a round and let you down later. We can usually suggest someone closer to you.

Why we don’t cover everywhere

A home care agency that covers a whole county is either very large or spreading itself thin. We are deliberately small and local. It means we sometimes say no — and it means when we say yes, the carer who arrives has come five minutes down the road, not forty.

As we grow we will extend our area, and we will only do it where we have carers living locally who can serve it properly.

Check we cover your street.

One phone call and we’ll tell you straight away.

Call 07512 845305

Contact

Let’s have a conversation.

No pressure and no obligation. If you’re ringing about a parent and you’re not sure where to start, that’s the most common call we get.

Telephone

07512 845305

Office: Monday to Friday, 8am – 6pm

Saturday & Sunday: 9am – 4pm

Outside those hours the same number reaches the person on call. If it is urgent, ring — that is what it is for.

Email

info@jackethealthcare.co.uk

Office

Jacket Healthcare Ltd
111 Harrowden Road
Bedford MK42 0RT

Our office is where care is arranged and records are kept securely. All care is delivered in your own home.

What happens after you get in touch

We talk on the phone — usually ten or fifteen minutes
If we’re a good fit, we arrange a free visit at a time that suits you
You’ll get a written quote before you commit to anything
If we’re not the right service, we’ll tell you and suggest who might be

Send us a message

Two things is all we need. We’ll ring you back and ask the rest.

Your name Telephone

Add a few more details (optional)

Email Who is the care for? Which area? How can we help?

We use what you tell us only to answer your enquiry and, if you go on to use us, to arrange your care. We do not share it with anyone else or use it for marketing. You can ask us to delete it at any time.

We’ll come back to you the same working day wherever we can. If it’s urgent, please ring instead.