The Good Care Group Anmeldelser 196

Very good carers for the most part who almost became part of the family. Very professional and carefully matched. If one wasn't ideal there was no issue about making sure that that person was replaced in the next cycle. The overall manager kept a close eye on progress and visited carers as well as us to make sure all were happy.

We used the services of the Good Care Group a year ago with a fabulous lady "Dawn" living in with my mum so we could go on holiday. We were really impressed with the service and Dawn was a breath of fresh air for us all. I thoroughly recommend The Good Care Group.

Very professional and caring company. The carers who supported my loved one were good, one in particular was exceptional. Went the extra mile and treated with dignity and respect. Well managed by regional management.

It was easy to contact the Good Care Group, and they responded immediately by coming to assess my friend in hospital. They listened to her and to us about what she wanted, and wrote a sympathetic and accurate Care Plan, again, very promptly, so that we felt confident they had assessed her situation accurately. The plan and pricing was very clear, and staff made an effort to ask and answer any questions.
This all meant my friend could be discharged quickly from the ward where she'd spent too much time, and could go home.
She was allocated 2 carers, who were each with her for a stretch of weeks before changing over. This meant she could get to know each one well. The first carer found my friend too demanding, and Good Care handled the situation sensitively, protecting their carer while talking honestly to us. They found another suitable carer immediately, and my friend was looked after for the last months of her life by these 2 amazing, compassionate and warm women, one from Eastern Europe and one from Africa, who became part of the family and kept my friend - who was paralysed and needed skilled care- company, nursed and fed her and managed to keep track of her rota of visitors.
As a friend of the family, I felt Good Care held us in mind, and were always available and professional. The weeks-long shifts were tiring for the carers, but they gave my friend continuity, and we felt Good Care treated their staff well. I'd recommend them as a responsive and trustworthy company with high standards.

Rachel the care manager, was very resourceful and sympathetic to the needs of the family, whilst Nat and Zara, the carers were both efficient and repectful. Mary's end of life care was managed very calmly and her death at home was peaceful.
I highly recommend the Good Care Group, especially if you do not live near the relative who is being cared for, as communication was very good.Not cheap, but definitely value for money.

The service we received from The Good Care Group was excellent. They really listened to what our relative's needs were and the carers who were chosen were all lovely. Our relative wasn't as keen on one of them but this was sorted quickly and professionally. Would definitely recommend, only sadness was how expensive it was. Saying goodbye to the last carer was very sad, she was like a part of our family extremely caring I would have trusted her with anything!

Good Care group looked after my mother from late 2016 until mid 2017.

They provided the most competent caring live-in carers I am aware of and it was a pleasure to know that my mother had such good care. They also demonstrated an understanding of my mother's complex medical history which included Parkinsons

The whole process of registering and engaging a respite carer for my Father was seamless. I felt a very good profile of him as an individual, as well as his health and care needs, was sought. The management response was immediate and thorough in creating a detailed care plan. The carer matched with my Father proved to be a treasure and inspired complete confidence. She was friendly, warm, positive and very competent, and my Father enjoyed the whole experience of respite care. He stated that he had made a new best friend, and had 'never felt so cossetted!'

We had a very positive experience. My mother had dementia but very much wanted to stay in her own home. The Good Care Group was able to provide 24/7 care and I would visit my mother 3 days a week to give the carer a break. For those that can't do that, extra carers can be organised. 24/7 care isn't cheap - we funded it through equity in our mother's house - but the standard of carers was extremely high. Also the agency administration was very efficient. When a carer had to leave suddenly due to illness a new carer was found immediately. When my mother was ill in hospital the carer was able to be with my mother every day which was a huge comfort to us.

The arrival of The Good Care Company(GCC) in our relative's life has changed it dramatically for the better. Previously up to 19 well-intentioned but pressured carer's from another organisation had arrived over the course of a fortnight to help support her recovery, leaving her stressed and concerned by all the changes. With GCC's calm, competent, friendly and client-centric carers living in, our relative's life has returned to as near normal as it can. There seem's to be nothing that the two regular, alternating, carers will not assist with, including travelling with us all to 50 miles to a special concert, finding someone who will do alterations to clothing, re-varnishing a table (!) - all on top of making sure that our relative is cared for in every way, including getting the home cooked meals she likes.
The additional bonus is that we can relax too, knowing that someone we care deeply about is safe and happy again.

My mother came to need 24/7 care and wanted more than anything to stay in her own home. After a lot of research, I approached The Good Care Group. It was the best decision I could have made. They are outstanding: in the quality of carers they have found for Mum, and in the individual care and attention she received in matching carers to her needs and interests. With just two carers working in rotation, Mum has continuity and stability of care. She is wonderfully looked after, happy, stimulated - and safe. Hearing her laugh again says it all. I chose The Good Care Group because they'd consistently been awarded 'Outstanding' commendations by the Care Quality Commission. When you're suddenly thrown into looking for care for an elderly parent, you have no idea what this actually means. I do now.

Good quality caters and responsive to concerns

I have found the service provided by The Good Care Group to be consistently professional, efficient but also friendly and approachable. I would have no hestitation in recommending them to others .

Since having The Good Care Group to provide 24 hour care for Ann, we have been very pleased with the care provided and very happy with the career's we have. This gives the family peace of mind knowing that we have a friendly person that gives 24/7 care and support.

We have used The Good Care Group to look after my mother for the last 3 and a half years, providing 24/7 live-in care. Through all that time I have felt confident that she was well looked after and that her various, difficult needs have been well judged, and well taken care of. It would have been five stars, but there was a brief period of upheaval in the company which did see a couple of novice placements that were not suited to such a demanding patient. However, that is all the past, and the current manager does a very professional and effective job, keeping care tailored to changing requirements.

This is a fantastic company, and the care and support they provide is second to none and worth every penny. The carers have not only changed our grandmas life for the better but ours too as they have let us be her family again rather than her carers. The support from the care manager is amazing too, she's always at the end of the phone with any questions and everything is dealt with straight away and is so easy nothing is complicated and she matched the most amazing carers to my grandmas needs! 10/10, highly recommended they are fantastic!!

Very patient and generally very kind and compassionate carers who show a lot of initiative and are well trained

The Good Care Group has looked after my elderly parents for over 6 years and we have been very happy with them. There have been some ups and downs, but they are always prepared to listen to and act on our feedback, involve us in the choice of carer and have the needs of their clients at the centre of all that they do. We do not believe that we could find a better organization to care for our relatives, and we have been eternally grateful to them for going the extra mile on a number of occasions when problems have arisen. Thank you!

Generally GCG is a very good managed care service. My father now has a live-in carer supplied from GCG after leaving respite care in a nursing home. It has taken a lot of the day-to-day managing of his complex care needs (following a stroke) away from the family and it has made it possible for my father to be at home, which was the intended goal. I spoke to many agencies before finding GCG and only the GCG seemed to offer a service that would make the transition possible from a fully managed care home with nurses to being back in independent sheltered accommodation. Their staff are efficient, capable, friendly and caring, and I immediately felt that their service was very professional and a cut above many of the other agencies I had dealings with. The fact that they have an 'Excellent' rating from the Care Quality Commission was very reassuring.
My father's carer is very nice and hard working, and puts in extra effort to make sure my father is safe and secure (for instance going with him to hospital for either scheduled appointments or emergency needs). She does basic cooking to my father's requirements and helps my father with his daily exercises as part of his rehabilitation. She has been managing his medication with my occasional help, and phoning the district nurse when required, or ordering various supplies that my father needs.
She gets on well with my father and her cheerful personality, combined with the reassurance of having someone there all the time, has lifted his mood and has helped him on the road to recovery. He is already showing significant improvement from being at home.
It is useful that the first two weeks of care are a trial period in effect and the arrangement can be ended without the usual notice period during that time. This allows both family and agency to see if the arrangement is going to work.
The carer is efficiently managed and monitored on a daily basis by GCG local care manager, so if anything goes wrong there is a backup system in place. The GCG initially did a very detailed assessment of my father's needs before the carer was appointed (by talking to my father and the family and also inspecting his home), although I think it would have been good if their occupational therapist came as part of the package rather than having to pay extra for this service as he or she could have assessed the current equipment in place and my father's needs prior to his return home. Lack of OT input led to a slight manual handling issue on the first few days as it wasn't clear how the new electric hoist should be used.
But generally the assessment was very thorough, with the right level of understanding and care shown towards my father, and GCG made a lot of effort to understand my father's needs and interests.
My reservations are (and the reason for a four star review):
- There was no choice of carer, we were offered only one lady who could start when we needed her to. However, having spoken to many other agencies prior to GCG, I think there is possibly a general shortage of carers in the area where my father lives (Berkshire). For the relief carer, also no choice, only one lady has been put forward (the reason given being it it the summer holidays and there is a shortage of carers at this time). I also felt I was put under pressure to accept the relief carer for scheduling reasons, therefore not allowing the family much time to decide. In the end I arranged to speak to her and for her to speak to my father so at least there was some kind of contact and introduction beforehand.
- The carer that started is a smoker but we weren't told about this in advance. She very discreetly goes outside to smoke away from the accommodation, and it isn't a problem for my father (he is an ex-smoker), or for other residents. However, this information should have been added to the carer's profile.

Excellent carers who are well trained, kind and caring. Care is expensive but the quality of care means that as a relative one has peace of mind and the knowledge that if a carer is ill or on holiday cover will be provided. The cover carers have also been good. Sometimes communication from the office is not a speedy as one might like but this is a relatively small matter.