Home Calls Limited

Our Act of Kindness Award Winner receives his prize!

2012-01-19T16:20:00.002Z

Chesham man wins award after going the extra mile for elderly residents

by Camilla Goodman

A CHESHAM man has won an award after going the extra mile to help elderly residents.

Andy White, 50, of Darvell Drive, Chesham, who is director of Lynwood Construction, was announced the winner of Home Calls' Act of Kindness Award last Thursday.

Mr White was nominated by Donna Ward of Bucks Trading Standards after he helped two worried elderly people.

Trading Standards called Mr White late on a Friday afternoon about a resident in Abbotts Vale, Chesham, whose downpipe was removed and not replaced by a rogue trader.

The resident was concerned about the rain causing damage because of the pipe not being there. Mr White went round and sorted out the problem free of charge.

He also helped someone in Chesham Bois with guttering problems.

He said: "It's something I'd normally do, it's nothing out of the ordinary. They were local so I went and did it and thought nothing of it. I didn't deserve all this. I'm glad I did what I did for them."

Ms Ward said: "Mr White provides reassurance to those people who've had a bad experience. It's just a way of saying thank you and that we appreciate the help he gives us."

Home Calls, which is based in Water Meadow, Chesham, said Mr White had had some fierce competition to beat.

Founder of the company Beverley Palmer said: "We ran the awards to recognise people who go the extra mile, like Andy, above and beyond the call of duty, to help people in a time of need.

"It opened our eyes to how many people are willing to put themselves out for others in the community.

"If we spread the good news I think it may just catch on."

Home Calls, which was set up two years ago, provides daily calls to the elderly in Bucks to check on them and their needs to enable them to live at home independently.

Act of Kindness 2011 Competition Winner

2011-12-19T07:50:00.002Z

Congratulations to Andy White of Chesham in Buckinghamshire - winner of our Act of Kindness 2011 winner! He wins £50 of Marks and Spencer vouchers.

Closing date approaches for Act of Kindness nominations

2011-11-03T11:11:00.001Z

The closing date for the Act of Kindness competition, which aims to honour people who have shown an act of kindness to older people, is fast approaching. Have you nominated your entry yet?

The aim of the competition is to reward a resident in the community for a charitable act. The competition is run by Home Calls, which is based in Waterside, Chesharn. The business supports older people living at home alone through the daily telephone service it provides.

“We are accepting entries until 14th November and a winner will be chosen on 30th November. We’d like as many entries as possible. Community based acts of kindness are rarely celebrated – and this is something we want to change.” Said Hhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifome Calls Director, Beverley Palmer.

“An act of kindness can be anything,” she went on to say, “ whether it’s helping a neighbour by doing their shopping, from popping in to see them every day to make sure they’re OK, taking time to accompany them on a daily stroll, to rescuing them after a fall.”

To nominate someone, tell Home Calls - in no more than 500 words - about an Act of kindness towards an older person that you have witnessed.

Entries will only be accepted on a competition entry form, which is available by calling 01494 449 769 or emailing beverley@}home-calls.eo.uk. The winner will be selected on November 30 and will take home £50 of Marks and Spencer vouchers.

Have you seen an Act of kindness towards older people?

2011-10-11T11:36:00.000+01:00

If you have then why not contact Home Calls Limited and nominate the act of kindness you have seen in their Act of Kindness towards older people competition?

Home Calls supports older people living at home alone through the daily telephone service that it provides. Director, Beverley Palmer believes that with support, older people are perfectly capable of living safely in their homes. But she also feels that even the smallest acts of community based kindness can make a huge difference to older people who do live at home on their own.

“We’re launching our Act of Kindness competition because there are so many people in our communities that carry out acts of kindness every day which go unnoticed. Even if everyone can’t win, we can at least recognise their great and kind work”, said Beverley.

The competition is simple. In no more than 500 words, tell Home Calls about an act of kindness that you have seen towards an older person. The winner will be selected on 30th November and win £50 Marks and Spencer vouchers.

So have you witnessed a worthy winner? Entries may only be accepted on a competition entry form which is available from Beverley Palmer on 01494 449769 or via beverley@home-calls.co.uk.

Strokes: Time is on your side

2011-10-10T11:00:00.004+01:00

There has recently been a very effective TV campaign about what to do when you think someone has suffered a stroke. Particularly in understanding physical signs that indicate a stroke has happened.

As always, prevention is better than cure, and there are preventative measures you can take to cut the risk of a stroke in the first place. The leading cause of a stroke is hypertension, so here are ways to reduce it:

1. Check your blood pressure - You can buy a simple but effective blood pressure kit from your chemist. The top blood pressure number should be less than 140. The bottom number should be less than 90.

2. Lose weight - Many doctors think weight loss is the single most important nondrug treatment for prevention of hypertension.

3. Exercise aerobically, quit smoking and reduce stress

4. Check your cholesterol once a year – it can narrow arteries and make you more prone to hypertension.

Sadly, we can’t always prevent strokes. But immediate action can reduce the effects of a stroke. So as the adverts tell us: move FAST

Face – drooping on one side?
Arm – can they lift them both over their head?
Speech – is their speech slurred?
Time to call 999 if any of those

If you witness someone having a stroke then the most important thing to remember is that Time is on their side.

The NHS has recently started using “clot busting” drugs. Taking a drug called Alteplase within 90 minutes of a stroke gives patients more than double the chance of full recovery, according to a report in The Lancet medical journal.

As after a stroke, treatments are constantly improving. The NHS Buckinghamshire Trust is at the vanguard of innovative stroke treatments and has recently opened eight hyper acute beds at its Wycombe Hospital stroke ward. These provide intensive nursing and therapy care for the first three days following a stroke

These facilities aim to promote patient independence, aiding rehabilitation in order to return home as soon as possible. By involving patients, their relatives and carers in setting personal goals they make the experience better for all.

When leaving hospital care there is concern over being able to cope or adjust to normal independent living. We at Home Calls can relieve any concerns you may have for that person by providing a daily check on well being. Either as long term care or just until the stroke victim is confident enough to cope again, its sure to be a great help to those in need. .

For more information on NHS Buckinghamshire’s stroke clinics go to
http://www.buckspct.nhs.uk/
And for ways in which we can help after you or someone you know leaves hospital just call 01494 449769 or email info@home-calls.co.uk

It doesn’t have to be this way…..

2011-07-21T09:30:00.001+01:00

By David Chandler

This shocking story of a woman’s ordeal due to a simple accident could have easily been avoided if she had a dedicated telecare service in place.
The fact that she spent so long helpless and alone made the impact on her and her health more serious than it would have been if friends and family had been alerted sooner.

This is where a service like Home Calls UK really does come into its own. It becomes a vital monitoring service that brings peace of mind the older person, their friends and family.

As Home Calls UK is in contact at a set time each day, any problems will be picked up within 3 hours if, like in this case, there is no response. The call would also give the person in distress a little comfort. Even though they may not bhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife able to reach the phone, they would at least know that someone out there would soon be aware of their predicament.

Our service would also monitor the person when they got home from hospital, offering relatives peace of mind that they are coping without the need for other home care services that are becoming harder to obtain.

A preventative service like ours not only provides how can but decreases isolation that many feel when they get older and whilst unwell and unable to get out and about.

To see how our service works, click here for a step by step guide. You can rely on us for fast, friendly care when its needed most

I read the news today – oh boy…..

2011-07-15T12:15:00.004+01:00

By David Chandler

Care for older people has been in the news lately like never before. Not just as part of the general worry over government cuts to NHS and care budgets but with specific cases that set a worrying precedent for the future of care in the UK.

The legal case of former prima ballerina, Elaine McDonald, over the provision of her home care worker has possibly changed the quality of life for over 250,000 people forever. It opens the door for councils and health authorities to cut back on the number of care workers employed and utilised in the community. Here's the full article.

It is clear that these measures if implemented will mean that many older people will become isolated and lonely in their own homes.

The Home Calls UK service aims to be a comforting, friendly and personal presence in the lives of people who wish to remain active and independent in their own homes. Through building up a relationship with the person we can better cater to their needs whilst taking away the worries of their relatives have of them living alone. Their social and personal interaction need not be curtailed

Another high profile concern is people being forced to re-mortgage or sell their houses and move to fund their healthcare in their old age.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jul/02/dilnot-funding-old-age

Home Calls can be paid for by relatives of the person separately but it also falls into a service that can be funded by the government’s Attendance Allowance . Unlike many other benefits this payment is not means tested and is available to anyone 65 and over whether they currently have home care or not. So Home Calls service won’t put a drain on your savings and can fill the gap that the councils no longer are willing to finance. We’re that cost effective life line as well as opportunity for a real conversation with someone knows you and cares.

For more information of Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance see this excellent guide from Age UK

What to do if you fall

2011-05-26T09:31:00.001+01:00

Source: AgeUK

Falls in the home can happen to any of us, at any time. However older family members are at a higher risk of injury than many of us.

How many of you know what to do? Or are able to tell an older relative how they might manage in the event of a fall?

Here are some basic points to remember.

1. Try to stay calm and not panic.

2. Get help if you can.
• Don’t move if you feel pain.
• Try to attract attention – bang on the floor or wall or use your community alarm if you have one.
• Call 999 if you can reach a phone.

3. If you can’t get help, and you are not hurt, try to get up.
• First, check carefully that you are not hurt.
• Then roll on to your hands and knees and crawl to a sturdy piece of furniture – for example, a chair or bed.
• Put your hands on the chair or bed and bring one leg up, bending your knee and placing your foot flat on the floor.
• Lean forwards, pushing with your hands and foot and bring your other foot up so that it is also flat on the floor and you are crouching.
• Turn and sit on the furniture.
• Make sure you rest for a while before you try to stand up.

(Once you know the technique it is a good idea to practise doing all this before it ever happens!)

4. If you are hurt or can’t get up, keep yourself warm. Cover yourself with a coat or anything else you can reach. Keep tensing your arm and leg muscles and roll from side
to side if you can to keep moving. If you have fallen on a hard floor, try to crawl to a softer, carpeted area if possible.

HomeCalls Ltd provides an effective guaranteed telephone call into the home of an older or vulnerable adults who wish to maintain their independence by living at home.

This means that an alarm will quickly be raised if they have had had a fall of some kind, but are unable to contact their support network or emergency services.

Find out more about how the HomeCalls service works here. It’s very cost effective, and guaranteed.

For for more information call Beverley on 01494 449769

Social care is ‘everyone’s responsibility’

2010-11-25T10:50:00.001Z

On 16thNovember, the Government issued a statement which said that social care should no longer be seen as a right from the state, and that it is ‘everyone’s responsibility’.

They may be right. With an increasingly ageing demographic, and with the public purse reduced by a total of some £83 billion across the board, the search for suitable alternatives and understanding of options is incredibly important – for social care providers, individuals with older family living at home.

And on 8thNovember the BBC stated that 46 out of the 86 English councils surveyed were concerned about the level funding for services helping elderly and vulnerable adults living at home. [Click here to read the full story]. There is very definitely, a need to find a cost effective, fail safe solution.

If social care really is ‘everyone’s responsibility’, how can we help?
The Home Calls service provides cost effective peace of mind for those responsible for those adults who remain living in their own home. So what are the benefits of the service?

Service recipients: remain comfortable in their own home and community with the certainty that they will have a guaranteed, time-specific call every day to check that all is well.

Family or service provider: the knowledge that the individual has guaranteed check, that they will be alerted if there are any problems and that the service is very cost effective.

To see how the Home Calls service works, click here for a step by step guide. Alternatively, call Beverley on 01494 523422 to find out more.

Supporting older people at home during the winter months

2010-10-21T14:15:00.002+01:00

The Home Calls service works with you to provide support to older people living in their homes. And this service becomes increasingly important during winter months.

On the last Sunday in October, British Summertime officially ends and we move our clocks backwards one hour. For the majority of us, it means arriving at our workplace in darkness and getting home in darkness – with a desire to get warm and comfortable as quickly as we can.

And because of this, for older people living at home, winter months can often mean less social and community interaction due to poorer weather and darkness, fear over fuel costs, and a higher risk of falls.

Following yesterday's Autumn review and with the loss of over 490,000 it is likely that, in some way, shape or form, care within the community for older people living at home, will also be affected.

To find out more about our cost effective, service that supports you in delivering care in the home, visit www.home-calls.co.uk.

Reduced budget doesn't have to mean reduced service.

2010-09-14T08:32:00.001+01:00

In July this year, Channel 4 broadcast a programme about Tower Hamlets Council in the series called ‘Undercover Boss’.

In this edition, the Chief Executive Kevan Collins, went undercover to experience life at the coal face to develop his own understanding of whether services to the area could be improved whilst his Council’s budget was under threat of a £50million reduction.

The programme was fascinating, in particular, the meals on wheels service provided by the Council. Whilst working with one of his employees, Kevan established that services had already been affected by reduced budgets and were at high risk of yet more cuts due to budget cuts from Central Government.

The result was that yes, good, warm, nourishing meals are still being provided to older people living at home, but the length of visit and level of social interaction has decreased massively.

This is due to the fact that each meals on wheels delivery person now has many more meals to deliver every day, but within the same timescale.

Tower Hamlets are doing a fantastic job with limited resources which are going to come under increasing pressure. And it is highly likely that their situation is not unique.

Whether providing care directly into the home, meals on wheels or just social visits Home Calls are able to support you as an organisation, or individual, by making a guaranteed daily telephone call into the home.

To view this edition of Undercover Boss, click here.

Providing suitable home care for your family.

2010-07-13T13:37:00.001+01:00

Tele connect systems. Are they a fail-safe alert mechanism? Quite simply, no.

For older people living at home, telecare has long been a source of comfort. In the event of a fall, or some kind of physical restriction, comfort can be found in the knowledge that help is available at the press of a button.

But this can be both expensive, and in some circumstances, ineffective.

There have been well documented circumstances in which the support provided by home visits have failed. An example of this can be found here.

In other situations, the recipient may be subject to a fall, an unable to raise alarm due to being unconscious or incapacitated.

The Home Calls service is proactive. Rather than waiting for an accident to happen, we provide prevention and minimise reactive action. An unanswered call into the home will raise an alarm so instances of accident, or delayed home visit are no longer an issue.

For less than £1 per day, we are able to provide peace of mind to those at home, and those caring for them. More information on our service can be found at our website.

Alternatively, if you would like to speak to someone about our service, contact Beverley Palmer on 01494 449769

New Website Launch

2010-06-04T10:09:00.000+01:00

Our new website has just been launched. We'll continue to improve it in the coming months, but why not take a look.

Visit: www.home-calls.co.uk and let us know what you think!

Living at home doesn't have to be a challenge

2010-05-27T15:22:00.000+01:00

The very heart of Home Calls lies in the deisre to enable those who are more fragile than they perhaps once were, to remain in the safety and comfort of their own homes.

Whether post-operatively, or through the natural ageing process, it is important that we consider the new challenges we are faced with, and take the necessary steps to ensure that we can overcome these challenges.

This might be something as practical as a ramp, or stair lift - something physical to help us move around our homes Or it might be something less tangible, but of equal importance - like the Home Calls telephone check.

In doing the right things like adapting our homes to aid movement, and providing regular support there is every reason to believe that we can help the older members of our community to remain in their homes.

Sometimes, we just need to think outside the box a little. Have a look at this Age Concern article for more information. www.bit.ly/aroundthehome

Sales people required. Home based. UK wide. Full or Part Time.

2010-05-11T13:46:00.000+01:00

No agencies please.

Home Calls Ltd provides a service that helps to ensure that older people are able to remain living in their own homes for as long as possible.

Our telephone service is one of support to caring families and adult social care providers. We are growing quickly and are now building a sales team that reaches across the UK.

Based at home, you'll be charged with building up a client base within your own geographical area. You'll be expected to produce your own leads and convert them into sales which will then be serviced through our head office.

Marketing support will be provided through our website, promotion and literature - and whilst you should manage your own running costs, there is no inital outlay involved.

Your hours of work are yours to choose. Needless to say, the more you put in the more you'll be likely to achieve, and we'd like to agree a minimum level of work at the outset. You could soon be easily earning £400 p/w.

As you are working on a commisson basis entirely, there are no targets involved and no high pressure sales. What is required is a good sales track record, and a confident, professional approach. Most importantly of all, you shoud have a desire to achieve the right lifestyle balance for you, and for the new clients you bring on board.

For more information, please contact Beverley on 01494 449769 or contact her via email at beverley@home-calls.co.uk.

No agencies please