Home Care Link - Service Standards
Home Care Link, part of the Housing Services division, provides
24 hour help to our sheltered housing residents and a monitoring
service 365 days a year. This information explains what services we
offer and what standards you can expect from us.
What we do
Sheltered Housing Services: We manage
approximately 1,200 retirement properties across West Lancashire,
which are available to people of pensionable age. These properties
are not residential or rest homes, but homes where you can enjoy
full independence with the added bonus of security and peace of
mind, together with a friendly atmosphere. Some properties with
communal facilities also have the benefit of a Scheme Manager who
lives on site.
All retirement properties are connected to our Home Care Link
Control Centre 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, through pull cords
in the lounge/kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. When a Scheme Manager
is on duty, they respond to these calls. At all other times - day
or night - staff in the Home Care Link Control Centre answer calls
and can contact a relative, friend, doctor, mobile warden or, if
necessary, the emergency services.
Mobile Wardens: Mobile wardens visit schemes and
provide an out of hours emergency response service.
Our service promise
- If you do pull your cord, we aim to answer your call within 90
seconds, although we try to achieve a faster response rate the
majority of the time.
- On receipt of a call, we will then contact a relative, friend,
your doctor or even the emergency services if necessary. If you
simply need reassuring, we will be pleased just to talk to
you.
- If a mobile warden is required to attend your property, we aim
for them to be with you within 45 minutes at all times.
How you can help us
- Please complete your personal details form to ensure that your
information is available on our computer (including details of
family, friends or carers).
- We are happy to assist all our customers with special needs.
Please mention this to our staff when you contact Home Care
Link.
Our general standards
We have a number of general standards, which apply to all services
across West Lancashire District Council. You may find these useful
to note:
- We aim to answer letters and emails within 10 working
days.
- If you request a fuller reply, or the matter requires detailed
investigation, we will send you an acknowledgment within 10 days,
which will set out what action is being taken and when you are
likely to receive a detailed response.
- We aim to answer your phone calls within 10 seconds.
- You can make an appointment to see a manager or speak to staff
in confidence.
- At all times our staff will show courtesy, respect and
sensitivity.
- To view our general standards in full see Corporate
Standards.
Give us your feedback
We want to provide services that delight our customers and which
are second to none. We monitor the standards we set but also value
feedback from our customers and residents on how we can further
improve services. If you have any comments, compliments or
complaints, there is a form on which you can make any suggestions.
These are available by downloading a copy from our website or by
visiting our main offices. Alternatively you can call Customer
Services and one of our advisers will complete a form with you over
the phone.
If you do make a complaint about our services, please note that we
have a formal process for dealing with these. These should
initially be addressed to the service manager whose details are
given below. Our promise to you is that any complaint will be
answered within 10 working days.
Contacting us
Click: Housing
Email: homecarelink@westlancsdc.gov.uk
Call: Freephone 0800 566 666 - 24 hours a day, seven days a
week
Come in: 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk or the CSP at the Concourse,
Skelmersdale
Our Council offices are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to
Thursday, and 9.00am to 4.45pm on Friday.
We can provide this information upon request on audiotape, in large
print, in Braille and in other languages.