WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

I use carers from Better Home Care as part of my overall care package. My situation is quite complicated, because of my condition and my profession, and the carers that they provide work very well for me.

I am a multiple sclerosis patient confined to a wheelchair with no use of my arms and legs. I am a astronomer and lecturer at Cambridge University, currently teaching continuing education courses. Because I cannot use a mouse, I rely on voice recognition software and use a specially-adapted wheelchair that is interfaced to my computer. I also use a great deal of equipment, including a specially adapted vehicle and two or three hoists, including a ceiling hoist to get me into bed and a standing hoist.

I have a team of three live-in carers who stay with me in rotation and are familiar with all my equipment and are expert in its operation. I use the Better Home Care carers twice a week in the evening for two specific things. Firstly they help me with computer activities, for example, helping me write macros for my voice recognition software. The carer who comes to me most frequently has a strong computer background and has become very familiar with my software. Secondly, they put me to bed on those nights so that the live-in carer is then freed from being on call, which frees up time for them to do other things that they cannot do otherwise. I am comfortable with them doing this as they have been trained by the live-in carers both in the operation of the ceiling hoist and in managing my medical appliances (like continence aids).