Stroke care
Exceptional stroke care at home for over 60 years
Stroke care
Caring for a loved one after a stroke requires patience, care and understanding. At Consultus Care and Nursing, we are dedicated to providing tailored live-in care that supports your loved one in their recovery within the comfort of their own home. Our experienced carers offer compassionate support, helping your loved one regain independence, dignity, and confidence as they navigate life after a stroke.
What is a stroke?
A stroke occurs when the flow of blood to part of the brain is cut off, stopping it from getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs. This can cause damage to brain cells and result in a wide range of symptoms, depending on which part of the brain is affected. Strokes often come on suddenly, with common signs including weakness or numbness in the face, arm, or leg, usually on one side of the body. Someone having a stroke might also experience slurred speech, difficulty understanding others, loss of balance, or confusion. Every stroke is different, but getting help quickly is crucial to limit long-term effects and give the best chance of recovery.
Talk to us today
Give us a call to discuss your needs with one of our friendly, expert Care Advisors. They will guide you through your options to ensure you make the right choice for you and your family.
Types of stroke
Understanding the different types of strokes is essential for tailoring the right care and rehabilitation for your loved one. There are three main types of strokes, each with distinct causes and effects on the brain.
The most common type, ischemic strokes occur when a blood clot or plaque blocks a blood vessel in the brain, cutting off oxygen supply. This leads to the death of brain cells in the affected area, causing issues with movement, speech, and cognitive function.
A haemorrhagic stroke happens when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures, causing bleeding in or around the brain. This type of stroke is often linked to high blood pressure or aneurysms and can lead to severe complications.
Also known as a mini-stroke, a TIA occurs when blood flow to the brain is temporarily blocked. While symptoms usually resolve within minutes or hours, TIAs are serious warning signs of a potential future stroke and require medical attention to prevent a more severe event.
What is stroke live-in care?
Stroke live-in care is a specialised service designed to support individuals recovering from a stroke. Strokes can have a significant impact on both physical and cognitive functions, leading to difficulties with mobility, speech, memory, and emotional well-being. Our live-in care service focuses on delivering comprehensive care that addresses these and supports rehabilitation.
With our dedicated carers, your loved one will receive one-on-one support with daily tasks, physical rehabilitation, and emotional well-being, all within the familiar surroundings of their own home.
Our stroke live-in care typically includes:
Personal care: Assistance with bathing, dressing, grooming, and continence care to ensure your loved one’s comfort, dignity, and well-being.
Medications support: If you receive care from a carer we introduce to you, whilst they are trained to support a person with their medications, we do not manage or oversee medication regimes. With our fully managed service, carers are trained in medications management and there is oversight from your Care Consultant, which is beneficial particularly if you have a complex medications regime.
Mobility assistance: Helping your loved one move around safely, get in and out of bed, and use mobility aids to prevent falls and enhance physical recovery.
Rehabilitation support: Assisting with prescribed physical, occupational, and speech therapy exercises to promote mobility, strength, and cognitive recovery.
Meal preparation: Planning and preparing well-balanced meals that meet any dietary restrictions, helping your loved one maintain proper nutrition as they recover.
Companionship: Offering emotional support and companionship to help your loved one manage the psychological challenges of post-stroke recovery.
Household tasks: Taking care of household chores, including cleaning and laundry, to maintain a safe and comfortable living environment for your loved one.
Benefits of live-in stroke care
Recovering at home provides comfort and familiarity, which can reduce stress and anxiety, aiding in a quicker and more effective recovery.
Unlike in a nursing home where care is divided among many residents, live-in care ensures that your loved one receives focused, individualised care tailored to their unique needs.
Live-in care allows for consistent routines and familiar caregivers, which is especially important in post-stroke recovery, as stability and routine contribute to better outcomes.
Live-in care enables family members to stay actively involved in their loved one’s recovery, providing input into the care plan and maintaining close relationships during this critical time.
With live-in care, your loved one can recover in the comfort of their own home while receiving expert care and rehabilitation, surrounded by familiar sights and loved ones.
When it comes to choosing the best care option for your loved one, deciding between live-in care at home and moving into a residential care or nursing home is a significant decision. Live-in dementia care offers several advantages over receiving care in a care home setting, particularly in terms of quality of life and the level of personalised attention your loved one will receive.
How we provide stroke care at home
At Consultus Care and Nursing, we offer three distinct live-in care services for those recovering from a stroke. We are committed to ensuring our clients receive the right level of care that meets their needs, whilst providing choice as to how their care arrangement is managed.
Introductory live-in care
With our introductory live-in care service, we recruit a self-employed carer who works in your home for you, independently of us. In contrast to our managed live-in care service, with introductory care, we do not direct, supervise or manage the carers we introduce to you, and the carers are paid directly by you.
Managed live-in care
Our fully managed live-in care service is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England, which results in regular inspections to ensure the care we provide is of the highest standard. We fully manage the service, which means carers are supervised, managed and monitored by us when working in a client’s home.
Live-in nursing
Our live-in nurses are fully qualified registered nurses, with a minimum of three years post qualification experience. They are carefully selected for their specific skills and knowledge and have a broad range of experience including community and acute nursing, and palliative care.
Why choose Consultus Care and Nursing?
One of the longest-established and most trusted providers
Founded in 1962, we have always been innovators in live-in care and live-in nursing. With over 60 years’ experience, we are one of the country’s longest-established, most highly recommended and experienced providers.
Unrivalled choice and control over your care
We understand that every person’s needs are different and every family’s situation is unique. With our choice of fully managed live-in care and nursing, and our introductory service, we offer more flexibility and personalisation than any other provider.
Highly trained nurses and carers
We are nationally recognised for the quality of our nurses and carers. With market-leading training, delivered at our own, multi-award-winning training centre (a Skills for Care Centre of Excellence), they provide exemplary, compassionate care tailored to individual needs, offering total peace of mind for clients and their families.
Expert care and support, dedicated to you
Our Care Consultants oversee our nursing and managed care services supporting only a small number of families. This means our service is truly personal, with unrivalled support and continuity of care. Reassurance that we are there when you need us most.
Family-founded, family-owned
We continue to be a family-owned and family-managed business. The largest wholly family-owned live-in care provider in the UK, we focus on what our clients and their families need from a high-quality care service, not on meeting investors’ expectations.
Your live-in care questions, answered
Live-in care is a highly personalised care service where a professional carer lives in your home to provide one-to-one care and support, around the clock. It enables people to maintain independence and safety in the comfort and familiarity of their own home, whilst receiving all the support they need. We know through our decades of experience that people feel better in their own homes, and our live-in care and live-in nursing give more people the freedom to make their own choices, and to live life their way.
A live-in carer is there to support your holistic needs, including all your care and support requirements, lifestyle and social preferences and companionship. They will help with:
· Personal care
· Medication support
· Mobility support
· Companionship and emotional support
· Meal preparation and cooking
· Housekeeping and domestic tasks
· Health monitoring
· Transportation and running errands
· Ensuring a safe and secure environment
· Specialist care of conditions, such as dementia and Parkinson’s
· Family support
· Ensuring connections with your local community
· Respite for family carers
Carers cannot perform any medical procedures, such as administering injections, dressing wounds or handling complex medical equipment. If you need medical care, we provide expert live-in nursing to support clients who have nursing needs. Additionally, carers cannot provide services outside of the scope of their role, like heavy lifting or manual tasks requiring specialist equipment.
We work closely with you and your family to match you with a carer based on your preferences, lifestyle and care needs. To ensure you have continuity of care, you will have a team of carers who will get to know you and provide cover for each other’s time off. We have over 60 years’ experience in successfully matching carers with clients ensuring peace of mind for everyone.
The cost of live in care is based on your specific care needs and circumstances, but ranges from a starting package of between £1,036 to £1,540 per week. Find out more about our live-in care services.
Live-in care is ideal for individuals who need continuous support due to age, illness, disability or who are recovering from surgery. It is also suitable for couples who want to stay together whilst receiving the care they need, or for anyone preferring not to have to leave their home and move into residential care.
Yes. We offer short-term live-in care, which can be arranged for respite care to give a family carer a much-needed break or following surgery to support rehabilitation and recovery. Short-term respite care also offers an opportunity for a family to try live-in care for the first time to make sure it is the right long-term care choice.
Yes. Live-in care is the ideal choice for couples who both need care. It provides a cost-effective way to provide tailored support, whilst allowing both individuals to remain together in the comfort of their home, avoiding the need to be separated through a move to a residential care home.
Yes of course. One of the many benefits of live-in care, when compared to moving into a residential setting, is that you do not need to be separated from your beloved pet. When we are planning care and matching you to the perfect carer, we will take this into consideration when making our carer selection. Many carers are happy to help with pet care, such as feeding, walking and companionship.
You will need to provide a private bedroom with basic amenities, including a bed and somewhere to store their clothes. They need to have access to a bathroom, but this doesn’t need to be a dedicated bathroom. Carers will also need access to WIFI to enable them to complete administration tasks. Meals and food allowance will also need to be agreed between the you and the carer. Most of our carers enjoy cooking and eating with their clients.
It is expected that your live-in carer sleeps during the night, so they are rested and refreshed to provide high-quality care during the daytime. We understand that occasional night calls are required, which the carer will respond to. Your dedicated Care Consultant will monitor this, to ensure it is not impacting our carer’s wellbeing and their ability to perform their role. Should you need more care during the night, then a second carer can be provided to cover a waking night package of care.
This will completely depend on your care and support needs. Should you have healthcare needs that a professional carer cannot support, for example help with administration of injections or PEG feeds, or tracheostomy care then you would need a live-in nurse. Our Care Advisors are here to guide you through which of our services would best meet you or your loved one’s needs, to ensure you have the right level of care and support.
There are many differences in the level of care and oversight provided between our fully managed, regulated live-in care service and our introductory service.
Fully managed care is just that. Our service is fully managed by a dedicated Care Consultant local to you, who provides high levels of oversight, management and support to the client, their families and our care team. In addition, there is 24/7 around the clock emergency support. This service is regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England, to ensure the highest possible standards of care. We are very proud to be rated a ‘Good’ service by the CQC.
Introductory care is when we match you with a self-employed carer, providing initial support, but with on-going oversight and management of the care provided by a nominated family member or representative.
All our carers are thoroughly vetted through a rigorous selection process, which covers all background checks, including Right-to-Work, an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check and employment reference checks. Carers then complete an aptitude test to ensure they have the necessary skills, ability and personality traits to provide high-quality live-in care. Candidates then go through an interview process and once successful complete our market-leading training, followed by a two week on-boarding in a client placement, overseen by their local Care Consultant, as they work to complete their Care Certificate. We are dedicated to ensuring all our carers are compassionate and have the necessary skills and experience to meet our client’s needs.
If you’re not satisfied with the carer for any reasons, we will work quickly with you to address your concerns and arrange an alternative carer. Our priority is to ensure continuity of care whilst a change of carer is facilitated.
Live-in carers will typically work over a 12-hour period, working up to 10 hours a day with a two-hour daily break. If a client cannot be left alone, a family member or other care provider will need to ensure their care needs are met during the carers break.
Carers are entitled to adequate breaks and time off. We ensure you have a small team of carers who get to know you or your loved one, and understand your needs who then cover each other’s time off ensuring continuity of care.
Our live-in care service is highly flexible. Care plans are regularly reviewed by your dedicated Care Consultant, who will ensure it accurately reflects the support required working closely with the care team, the client’s family and any healthcare professional involved in your care. Should your health needs evolve and cannot be met by a professional carer, we can offer our expert live-in nursing service and seamlessly transition you to this level of care.
Carers are trained to respond to emergencies, such as contacting emergency services, notifying family members, and following agreed protocols to ensure your safety. If you are receiving our high-quality managed live-in care service, you have around-the-clock support from a Care Consultant local to you and our office-based team. Should you be receiving our introductory live-in care service, the appointed family member or representative would need to be contacted in an emergency.
Depending on your financial and health circumstances, there may be financial support for funding live-in care, including local authority funding, or NHS Continuing Care funding from your Integrated Care Board (ICB), formerly a Clinical Commissiong Group. Many families are faced with having to fund live-in care themselves. However, there are many options including Care Fees insurance policies, and equity release schemes that can provide the financial support you need. At Consultus Care and Nursing, our Care Advisors are help you get the best advice, so you can make the right choice for you or your loved one.
Depending on the complexity of an individual’s needs, we can generally set up live-in care within 24-48 hours.
It starts with a friendly discussion with a member of our experienced Care Advisory team who will talk through your requirements, expectations and guide you as to the suitability of our different live-in care services. Should you wish to proceed with our managed care service, a Care Consultant who is local to you will conduct a comprehensive assessment of your needs in your home, alongside your family if you choose. If you decide to go ahead with the service, will then match you with the most suited carer. Once all the contractual paperwork is concluded a service start date is agreed. If you choose our introductory service, we will discuss your care and support needs with you as part of our registration process. We then match you with a suitable carer who we introduce to you to provide the care you need.
How much does stroke care at home cost?
The cost of live-in stroke care varies depending on the level of support required and your loved one’s specific needs. We are committed to transparent pricing, with no hidden fees, so you know exactly what to expect.
Navigating the costs of care can feel overwhelming, which is why our Care Consultants are here to help. We will support you in exploring your options and finding a solution that works for your family.
Download our brochure
To find out more about our award-winning live-in care services, download our brochure below.
Looking for care?
Please fill out the enquiry form below and we will aim to contact you within 24 hours. Looking to work for Consultus Care and Nursing? Please apply here.