Care that comes to you, only when you need it.
Hourly home care — sometimes called visiting care or domiciliary care — means a carer comes to your home for a set period of time, from a single hour a week to several visits a day. They help with whatever you need, and then leave.
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It's help with the things that have become harder — in your own home, on your own terms.
Hourly care is for people who don't need someone with them around the clock, but who could do with a hand at certain points in the day. It might be help getting up and dressed in the morning. A short visit at lunchtime to prompt medication and warm something through. Company in the evening, and a little support at bedtime.
Visits can be as short as an hour or as long as a full day. They can happen once a week or four times a day. The point of hourly care is that it flexes around you — your routine, your preferences, your home — rather than the other way around.
It's most often used by older people, but not exclusively. We support adults of all ages who are recovering from surgery, living with a long-term condition, or simply finding the day-to-day a bit more demanding than it used to be.
From the practical to the quietly important.
A carer's job is to make the day work better — whatever that looks like for the person they're visiting. Here's the kind of thing visits typically involve.
The things people would prefer to manage themselves — if they still could.
- Help getting washed, bathed or showered
- Dressing and undressing, choosing clothes
- Hair, shaving, oral care
- Toileting and continence support
- Help with mobility — transfers, standing, walking
- Skin care and pressure-area checks
Keeping on top of the small things that quietly matter.
- Prompting and administering prescribed medication
- Applying creams and basic dressings
- Eye drops, inhalers, blood-glucose checks
- Catheter and stoma care, where trained
- Spotting changes and flagging them to family or GP
- Supporting equipment use — hoists, frames, oxygen
A warm meal and a tidy kitchen do more than they look.
- Preparing breakfast, lunch, supper or a snack
- Encouraging eating and drinking enough
- Light housework — washing up, hoovering, laundry
- Changing beds and tidying through
- Shopping, or popping out together to do it
- Picking up prescriptions and the small errands
A familiar face and somewhere to be.
- A cup of tea and a proper conversation
- Reading, puzzles, playing cards, watching the football
- Walks, the garden, a trip to a favourite café
- Accompanying to GP and hospital appointments
- Going to the hairdresser, the bank, the church
- Keeping in touch with family on the phone
Hourly care works best when help is needed at particular moments — not constantly.
For most families we work with, the day breaks down into a handful of points where a bit of support makes everything else possible. Hourly visits cover those points and leave the rest of the day alone.
If someone is at risk overnight, can't safely be left for long, or has needs that are changing quickly, hourly visits may stretch thin. In those situations, live-in care is often the better answer — a single carer in the home around the clock. We'll always say so honestly.
- 01
Help with mornings or evenings
Getting up, washed, dressed and breakfasted — or settled safely to bed. The bookend visits that make the rest of the day work.
- 02
Coming home from hospital
The first few weeks after a stay can be the hardest. Visits to support recovery, manage medication, and rebuild confidence at home.
- 03
Living with a long-term condition
Dementia, Parkinson's, stroke recovery, MS — the kind of conditions where the right routine, calmly delivered, makes a real difference.
- 04
Giving family carers a break
If a husband, wife, son or daughter is doing most of the caring, regular visits give them the time they need to look after themselves too.
- 05
Companionship and a little structure
For people living alone, a regular visit from someone they know is often as valuable as the practical help that comes with it.
- 06
End-of-life care at home
Working alongside district nurses and the GP, our team supports families to keep loved ones comfortable, dignified, and at home if that's their wish.
The same small team, week after week.
Most hourly care providers are built around the rota. Whoever's free, that's who turns up. We've always done it differently, and three things in particular set our visits apart.
An hour, at minimum.
Some agencies run fifteen- or thirty-minute visits. We don't. An hour is the shortest amount of time we think it's possible to do good care in — long enough to do what's needed without rushing the person you're there for.
Carers who know you.
Each client has a small, regular team — usually two or three people — who get to know them, their routine, their family and home. The same faces, week after week. When cover is needed, it comes from inside that small team where possible.
Carers who stay.
Our team has been with us for an average of eight years. They're properly trained, properly paid, and properly supported — which is why they stay, and why your loved one isn't meeting someone new every month.
Hourly visits, by the visit.
No setup fees and no hidden extras. Weekend, evening and bank holiday rates apply — the full price list has every figure laid out. To end an arrangement we ask for 28 days’ notice, although you can cancel at any time within the first 14 days of care starting.
- A regular, named carer
- Free home assessment and care plan
- No setup fee
- Cover from within your small team
Carers take time to chat with my parents whilst also carrying out the tasks and doing anything extra that's needed.
What families ask us about hourly care.
What's the shortest visit you'll do?
One hour. We don't do fifteen- or thirty-minute visits, even if a competitor has offered them. In our experience an hour is the shortest amount of time you can do good care in — less than that, and the visit becomes a transaction rather than a relationship, and the person being cared for ends up feeling rushed.
How often can carers visit?
Anywhere from once a week to four times a day. Many of our clients have a morning visit to help get up and dressed, a lunchtime visit to prompt medication and prepare a meal, a tea-time visit, and an evening visit to settle to bed. Others just need an hour of company once a week.
The right pattern is something we'll work out together at the assessment.
Will it be the same carer every time?
You'll have a small, regular team — usually two or three carers — rather than one single person. That way someone familiar can always cover holidays, illness or days off, and you're never meeting a stranger.
The team is matched to you carefully at the start, and the same faces visit week after week.
Can you do evenings, weekends and bank holidays?
Yes. We cover seven days a week, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays. Rates for these times are higher than the weekday standard rate — you'll find every figure in our published price list.
How quickly can visits start?
From your first call to a carer at the door, we typically need a minimum of 48 hours. That gives us time to come for a free assessment, agree a care plan with you, and introduce you to the team who'll be visiting.
We usually operate with a waiting list, we will let you know how long the wait may be when we do the assessment. If the situation is urgent — a sudden hospital discharge, for example — we'll do everything we can to start sooner.
What if hourly care isn't enough?
If hourly visits stop being the right fit — needs change, or someone is no longer safe alone for long periods — we'll say so. Often the next step is live-in care: a single carer in the home around the clock, so the day no longer has gaps.
Many of our families have moved between hourly and live-in over the years as circumstances have shifted. The transition is something we manage carefully so the carers, where possible, are people who already know the client.
Are you regulated, and how can I check?
Yes. Gardiner's Homecare is registered and regulated by the Care Quality Commission — the body that inspects all home care providers in England. Both our branches are rated Good. Inspection reports are public on the CQC website, and our reviews are independently verified on homecare.co.uk.
Wondering if hourly care is the right fit?
Five or ten minutes on the phone is often enough to work out whether visiting care, live-in care, or something else is what your situation calls for. No script, no pressure — just an honest conversation.
Mon–Fri 7:30am–5pm · Out of hours, leave a message and we’ll call back.
