Home Instead Bristol West, Nailsea and Portishead

06/03/2026

To receive this unsolicited praise in, at the end of our first full and busy week of providing homecare, from a fellow healthcare professional and paramedic, attending the scene, makes us so proud of the hand-picked Care Professionals we employ.

This kind of genuine, compassionate care is not something we can ever train into people, but are the top attributes we look for when hiring these very special people. Like paramedics, for whom we have the greatest respect, and often bump into, sadly for clients, much of what they and we do is unseen.

"I just wanted to reach out to pass on some positive feedback about some of your colleagues that I met today. I am a paramedic with the ambulance service and attended a patient who had fallen earlier today in Totterdown. Jenny, Harriet and Vaida were all on scene with the patient and were fantastic. It was obvious that they really care and were impressively knowledgeable. We often come across those working in the care sector and their attitude and compassion were above and beyond anything we have seen before. We are all often quick to complain but never quick enough to pass on positive feedback so I’m hoping that you could pass this on to them and thank them for doing such a great job."

05/03/2026

We can never know enough about dementia and understanding its impact on those around us, both immediate family and those they meet in everyday life.

The Owner is on this journey with his Mum, with Alzheimer's dementia variant gradually progressing.

Did you know there are many different types of dementia?

Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies are four of the most common forms of dementia, and they can all affect people differently.

This is our guide to a few of the most common symptoms for each illness.

Dementia looks different for everyone, so a person’s symptoms may not look exactly as they are described here.

However by knowing the signs, we can make sure that we don’t brush off or ignore some of these lesser-known symptoms, to help everyone with dementia get a crucial early diagnosis.

Save this post for later, and if you’d like more info visit our website or give our Dementia Support Line a call on 0333 150 3456.

04/03/2026

We are delighted to have fully relaunched Home Instead, south of the river, across North Somerset, and now have started our first 6 clients and 5 care staff, which is amazing since the start of February.

The phone keeps ringing!

Delivering great-quality care, at a fair price, starts with employing fabulous people, which started with Jenny, as Care Manager, after 5 years with our colleagues at Home Instead Weston super Mare, Clevedon & Burnham on Sea and now joined by Cat, who worked with Jenny before and, in Jenny's words, is our 'girl Friday' (officially Office Coordinator), hugely capable in so many areas and with brilliant experience in dementia care and scheduling.

Here they are, at home in Leigh Court, where the team have made us feel incredibly welcome. This week, we felt we'd truly arrived with our very own room name!

08/02/2026

There’s always something which needs fixing. It’s a role that many of our Care Professional fulfill from time to time!

If you’ve seen Love Your Weekend, you might have spotted Care Professional Ben come to the rescue.

07/02/2026

We are SO looking forward to welcoming our first 6 care staff for their first day's training, at Leigh Court on Monday (9th Feb).

We look for very, very special people, first and foremost with the right heart and values where we would be entirely happy entrusting our own parents (the Owner's parents are below!) to the care of these people - they are 'living angels'.

All the practical skills, like safe medication, dementia awareness, and moving and assisting, we can easily train into people - what we can't train is the very best heart and values. People who wake up in the morning wanting to look after other human beings.

We have been bowled over by the interest we have had from local staff (and client enquiries!), in North Somerset.

There is no real practical limit on what we can do to support older people, both in and out of the home - it is hugely emotionally rewarding and we love our older generation, overflowing with memories and experiences, who deserve the very best support.

01/02/2026

We hope you are enjoying the New Year so far, although the weather is pretty miserable, but days are getting gradually longer and the first daffodil stems are beginning to push through.

We have got off to a flying start, this month, after Jenny Morton (here she is: https://www.homeinstead.co.uk/bristol-portishead-nailsea/ if you scroll down) joined us on 12th January, as Care Manager, and we took a small office at Leigh Court who have made us feel really welcome. It's great to be working with small- to medium-sized businesses and to be in the heart of North Somerset, serving the whole area south of the River Avon.

We've had over 30 client enquiries since December and over 20 carers enquiring about jobs - the first 6 of these have all been interviewed and are coming for their first full day's training on 9th February.

If you want to chat to us about care, or working with us, then do call Jenny by clicking on 'Call now' below.

22/01/2026

Ever worked in care, or even thought about it?

The reason we are reaching out to you is that we know, in our world, because of the wide range of things we do to support our mainly older clients (not always!) to remain living in their own, with only as much support as they feel they need, or we might sense, whilst preserving their independence, many, many people can do this.

So we don’t really care whether you’ve worked in care before or not! The skills bit (like helping with medication) is the easy (but very important) bit we can train you in – what we can’t train is you having the right heart and values which gets up in the morning wanting to help another human being.

We find that there are many transferable skills, so we often hire from sectors like retail, hospitality, hairdressing, and beauty therapy, to name a few.

In some respects we step in for the son or daughter who cannot be there, in relationship terms, but then we also have the professionalism which means our support is safe at all times.

The range of what we do, with a minimum of an hour’s visit with every client, falls under the headings of Companionship, Home Help, and Personal Care. Many of our clients don’t require any Personal Care (which might just be something like brushing a client’s hair or supporting them with medication).

We support each client with the smallest number of care staff possible because we place a huge premium on the trusting relationship you form with clients, as close as we can get to being ‘family’. For family members we are often their ‘eyes and ears’ with Mum or Dad (or both!).

Many people who contact us have never looked at his work before (some care staff even describe as ‘not like work’) but make brilliant staff.

21/01/2026

It used to be the case that as we aged and needed help beyond immediate family, or indeed have other health conditions at a younger age, such as an acquired brain injury or muscular dystrophy, a residential or nursing care home would be the next, and final, move from our own home.

However, for the last 35 years or so we have been able to receive care at home, ranging from as little as an hour a week (often called domiciliary care) right through to a little understood category called Live In care. Live In care involves having someone living with you, in the home up to 22 hours a day (so throughout the night), supporting you in and out of the home in an almost unlimited way, for a few weeks in each stretch before the second dedicated carer replaces the first carer, on rotation.

It is well-reported that the UK has a funding crisis in adult social care and for indiscriminate conditions like dementia, where over a million people live with this condition in the UK, the financial burden can be very substantial, over many years, regardless of the ability to pay for care.

In-home care provision divides into two financial camps, whilst the primary responsibility for adult social care sits with the Local Authority. Every adult is entitled to an assessment of needs.
However, if you have over £23,250 of your own savings (a limit which has been unchanged since 2010) then, sadly, you have to pay for your own care (unless health needs are so great that you qualify for NHS funding under Continuing Healthcare funding). This threshold excludes the value of your home if you choose to have care in your own home. However, if you live alone, you are expected to sell your home if you choose to move to a care home, to help pay for care until your funds are down to that threshold.

Alternatively, equity release schemes can free up money for care.

If your savings are below the £23,250 threshold, then the Local Authority will make a partial contribution, up to covering the full cost if savings are less than £14,250. It is also not widely known that if you do qualify for Local Authority help, then you can receive this contribution but choose to ‘top up’ and use a provider of your choice.

Costs of care by the hour, from CQC-regulated providers, range from £30-40/hour (with no VAT) and can be scaled up or down as needs increase or decrease, and can also be used for short-term help, for respite support or after discharge home following a hospital procedure.

Live In care typically costs upwards of £1,600 a week, which is a substantial cost but is comparable with, or may be less than, the costs of a private care home. However, Live In care offers one-to-one support all day and night, including trips out of the home.

A great source of homecare information and providers is at www.homecare.co.uk, the TripAdvisor of homecare.

20/01/2026

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we have relaunched Home Instead in North Somerset, under new ownership and new management, operating from our new office at Leigh Court in Abbots Leigh.

This area now joins the other two Bristol franchises, which cover North and East Bristol, providing consistent high values and ethos right across the Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire areas, from Portishead, through Nailsea and Backwell, right across to Long Ashton, Flax Bourton, and Ashton.

We are busy recruiting for new care staff, so head to https://www.homeinstead.co.uk/recruitment/bristol-portishead-nailsea/ if interested in having a chat with us - just ring 01275 407407!

The office is headed up by Jenny Morton, Care Manager, who previously worked for 5 years with our neighbours at Home Instead Weston super Mare, Clevedon & Burnham on Sea and she loves alking all things care!

Like all our offices, we provide care in the home from just a few hours a week right through to 24/7 Live In care.

27/10/2025

Huge congrats to the whole Home Instead network for this recognition - well deserved! 💚

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Home Instead has been named a Financial Times Diversity Leader for 2026! 🎉

This recognition highlights the truly inclusive culture across our entire network:

💚312th out of 800 European companies (a jump of 97 places!).
💚7th in the Healthcare (Social) sector.

Coming right after being named a Financial Times Best Employer ( #3 out of 500 major UK businesses), this ranking is special because it's largely driven by employee feedback.

As CEO Martin Jones MBE commented, "Inclusivity is at the heart of everything we do, and it’s rewarding to know our employees value and experience this in their day-to-day work.”

Thank you to our amazing, diverse team for making Home Instead a place where everyone is celebrated. 💚👏

27/10/2025

★ URGENTLY RECRUITING ★
Are you looking to boost your income with care work?

Due to growth in our domiciliary clients, we have vacancies for Care Professionals supporting people in their own homes across Nailsea, Portishead, and North Somerset.

You don’t need lots of experience — just a genuine commitment to care.

Immediate start (for suitable applicants)

Full training provided

Part-time or full-time hours available

Mileage paid (even from your own home)

We’d love to talk to you about the opportunities.
Please message us, comment below, or call 01275 391300 (weekdays) for more information.

26/10/2025

⏰ Don’t forget — the clocks go back tonight at 2am!

That means an extra hour in bed… or an extra hour for a warm cuppa ☕️

As the evenings get darker, it’s a good reminder to check your home lighting and keep walkways clear — simple steps that help prevent trips and falls this season.

Stay safe and cosy from all of us at Home Instead Bristol West, Portishead & Nailsea 💜