Anglia Care Coordinators

A new Norfolk-based company is aiming to take the stress out of going into full-time care for elderly people and their families, by offering to take responsibility for everything from putting a property on the market, to finding the most appropriate care home or sheltered accommodation. Anglia Care Coordinators, which was launched this month, was the idea of Sheringham-based independent financial adviser Pam Blyth, who has been a long-term care specialist since 1997.

"It has been a passionate battle of mine to help people to understand the process of going into care and the importance of planning for the future," Mrs Blyth said. "So what I wanted to do was to take away the pressure of worrying about sorting things out like selling a house or finding the right care home." She decided to set up Anglia Care Coordinators after being called on to take care of the affairs of a long-standing client needing to go into residential care. "She had nobody, and I ended up selling her house, negotiating legal fees, getting her furniture valued and sold, clearing the house, sorting her will out and, finally, investing the money from the proceeds. The interest from that investment now pays for her care and I realised that for people like my client who have no one to fight for them, there is a desperate need for this sort of help."

Mrs Blyth teamed up with Norwich solicitors Clapham and Collinge and, together, they came up with a complete package which can tailored to meet an individual client's needs. As well as arranging suitable nursing, residential or sheltered accommodation care, Anglia Care Coordinators can negotiate the sale of property and personal possessions; organise removal and storage of furniture; provide investment advice, and give legal advice on wills, care fees and the creation of an enduring power of attorney. The company has put together a panel of estate agents, solicitors, financial advisers and removal and storage firms, all of whom have been carefully vetted to ensure professionalism and competence. Team members can also liaise with social services, will check benefit entitlement - including finding out if a client is entitled to full NHS funding - and will even visit prospective clients in hospital to discuss their future care. "Through working with elderly people, I saw at first hand how stressful going into care could be," Mrs Blyth said. "They often feel very vulnerable and don't have the information they need to make important decisions.

"What we wanted to do with Anglia Care Coordinators was to set up a joint venture offering elderly people and their families a specialised one-stop service which would allow them to move into care knowing that they are getting a good deal, and that everything is being taken care of by a team of professional people who have their best interests at heart."

Mark Foley, a partner at Clapham and Collinge specialising in employment and family law and litigation, said the problems faced by his own family when his mother needed residential care after falling and breaking her hip convinced him of the need for such a service. "Elderly people often go downhill very quickly when they are taken ill and these things are sometimes done in a last minute panic," he said. "Frankly, it is terrifying to be faced with a parent going into care; you feel guilty, scared and you end up organising things by the skin of your teeth without really knowing what you are getting into." Mr Foley added that the company had drawn up a code of conduct which estate agents, solicitors and financial advisors were required to sign. "It really comes down to treating people fairly," he said. "We are accountable for everything we coordinate and part of our ethos is that we give clients the information they need to make their own decisions."

The company is happy to give presentations on funding and the impact of going into care to community groups, clubs and organisations.

Anglia Care Coordinators, 4 Cremer Street, Sheringham, NR26 8DZ. Phone (01263) 826999 or
email: info@angliacarecoordinators.co.uk www.angliacarecoordinators.co.uk