Other Local Services for Older People in Hertfordshire

Elderly woman smiling with a Starling Homecare carer during a care visit

Where to start when you need someone other than a carer

Physiotherapy, foot health, occupational therapy, mobility equipment, mobile hairdressing, handymen and more, from independent local businesses working with older people across Hertfordshire. Each section below explains what that kind of help involves and what to ask before you book, and lists the businesses we know in your area.

These services are not provided by Starling Homecare, and we are not able to verify them. Please treat this as a starting point for your own enquiries rather than a recommendation.

We publish this because families ask us for it. When something changes at home, knowing where to begin saves time and worry at a difficult moment, and we would rather answer the question properly than leave someone to guess. That is the whole of our interest in it. Nobody pays to be listed, we take no commission, and we accept no referral fee, in either direction.

How to Use This Directory

Three steps:

Filter by your town, so you only see businesses that cover your area.
Find the type of help you need, and read what that service involves and what to ask.
Contact the business directly, or call us if a category is still empty and you would like a name.

We are building this town by town. St Albans, Harpenden and Welwyn Hatfield are live now, and everything you read on a listing is what that business has told us about itself.

Elderly woman walking arm-in-arm with a Starling Homecare carer outside a home.

Please read this first. The services below are independent local businesses. They are not provided by Starling Homecare and they are not part of our service.

We share these details because families across Hertfordshire ask us for them, and knowing where to start saves time at a difficult moment. We are not able to verify anyone’s credentials, registration, insurance or standard of work, so please do make your own enquiries before engaging anyone, and satisfy yourself that they are right for your situation.

Filter by town

Jump to a service

Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Foot Health, Podiatry and Chiropody Occupational Therapy and Home Assessments Mobility, Equipment and Home Adaptations Hearing and Eyesight Dementia Support Groups and Day Services Mobile Hairdressing, Barbering and Nail Care Handyman, Gardening and Cleaning Meal Delivery and Food Shopping Transport and Accompanied Outings Pharmacy and Medication Delivery Solicitors, Lasting Power of Attorney and Wills Later Life Financial Advice Funeral Directors and Bereavement Support Pet Care and Dog Walking

Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation

A physiotherapist who visits at home works on balance, walking, getting up from a chair and confidence after a fall, a stroke, or a hip or knee replacement. Home visits suit anyone who finds getting to a clinic difficult, and the exercises are set in the rooms the person actually uses. Worth asking whether they are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, and how many visits they expect a plan to take.

Awaiting details for a new listing. We are gathering names for this category across Hertfordshire now. If you are looking for someone today, call our St Albans office on 01727 324 127 and we will share any names we have. If you provide this service across Hertfordshire, you are welcome to be listed, free of charge.

Foot Health, Podiatry and Chiropody

Routine foot care makes a real difference to whether someone keeps walking comfortably: nails that have become too thick to manage, hard skin, corns and callus. Podiatrist and chiropodist are titles protected by law and held by HCPC registered practitioners. Anyone with diabetes, thin skin or reduced feeling in the feet should say so before treatment starts.

Occupational Therapy and Home Assessments

An occupational therapist looks at the home rather than the person: the height of the bed, the step at the back door, whether a bath is still safe, what equipment would help. An independent assessment is often the fastest way to get a clear, practical list of changes. Worth asking whether they are HCPC registered and whether the report includes recommendations you can act on yourself.

Mobility, Equipment and Home Adaptations

Grab rails, stair rails, raised toilet seats, riser recliner chairs, walking frames, stairlifts and level access showers. Some of this can come through the council or an occupational therapist, and some is quicker to buy privately. Ask about fitting, guarantees and what happens if the equipment turns out to be wrong.

Hearing and Eyesight

Home visiting opticians and hearing services will test, supply and maintain at home for anyone who cannot easily get to the high street. Free NHS home eye tests are available to people who are unable to leave home unaccompanied. Hearing aids that have stopped being worn are very often a maintenance problem rather than a hearing one.

Dementia Support Groups and Day Services

Memory cafes, singing groups, day centres and carers support groups give both the person and the family a break, and they are often the thing that keeps a household going. Many are run by local charities and churches, so cost varies a great deal. Ask what a first visit involves and whether a family member can stay.

Mobile Hairdressing, Barbering and Nail Care

A hairdresser who comes to the house is not a luxury. For many people it is the appointment that keeps them feeling like themselves, and it is often the first thing to go when getting out becomes difficult. Ask whether they are used to working around limited mobility, and whether they can wash hair at a basin or in a chair.

Handyman, Gardening and Cleaning

Small jobs, repairs, changing a bulb safely, garden tidying, window cleaning and regular cleaning. None of this is regulated, so what matters is reliability, insurance and manner in someone’s home. Ask for two recent local references and check they hold public liability insurance.

Meal Delivery and Food Shopping

Hot meal delivery, frozen meals designed for smaller appetites, shopping delivered, or someone to do a weekly shop. Eating well is often the quietest thing to slip. Ask about portion sizes, soft or texture modified options, and whether the driver will check the person is alright.

Transport and Accompanied Outings

Accessible taxis, hospital appointment transport, and drivers who will wait, help someone in and out and carry the bags. A hospital appointment is a long day for anyone who cannot drive. Ask whether the vehicle takes a wheelchair, and whether the driver waits or returns.

Pharmacy and Medication Delivery

Many pharmacies deliver, and most will supply medication in a weekly blister pack, which makes it far easier to see whether tablets have been taken. Some also offer a medication review. Ask about delivery days, and how repeat prescriptions are ordered.

Solicitors, Lasting Power of Attorney and Wills

A lasting power of attorney is the single most useful document a family can put in place, and it has to be done while the person still has capacity to make it. Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and membership of STEP or Solicitors for the Elderly is a sign of genuine specialism in this area.

Later Life Financial Advice

Care fees, benefits that go unclaimed, whether to keep or let a property, equity release and care fee annuities. Advisers must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Society of Later Life Advisers accreditation is specific to this field. Ask how they are paid before anything else.

Funeral Directors and Bereavement Support

Independent, family run funeral directors, and local bereavement support for afterwards. It is easier to have this conversation before it is urgent. Ask for a written price list, which good funeral directors provide without being asked.

Pet Care and Dog Walking

Dog walking, feeding, litter trays, and vets who will visit at home. A pet is very often the reason someone manages at home at all, and the thing they worry about most. Ask whether they can help in an emergency or a hospital stay.

Browse by Town

Each town has a page of its own, listing the businesses we know there, grouped by the kind of help they give.

St Albans

Harpenden

Welwyn Hatfield

Being built next: Radlett and Shenley, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Hitchin, Hertford. If you are in one of those towns and need a name today, call our St Albans office on 01727 324 127.

About This Directory

These services are not provided by Starling Homecare

Every business listed here is an independent local company or practitioner. They are not part of Starling Homecare. We do not employ them, manage them, train them or supervise their work, and we have no involvement in the work they carry out or in any arrangement you make with them.

We are not able to verify these services

We publish what each business has told us about itself. We do not check, audit or verify anyone’s qualifications, registration, insurance, references or standard of work, and we do not hold ourselves out as having done so. A listing is not a recommendation, an endorsement, an approval or a vetting exercise. It is a signpost, and it is offered as nothing more than that.

Our Approach to Care

Please make your own enquiries

Before engaging anyone from this page, do your own research and satisfy yourself that they are right for your situation. Ask about their qualifications, their registration where the profession is regulated, their insurance and how they charge, and ask for references. Where a profession is regulated, the register is public and free to search.

Responsibility for these services

Starling Homecare accepts no responsibility or liability for any service provided by a business listed here, or for any loss, cost, damage or harm arising from it. Any contract, payment or agreement is between you and them. If you have a concern about someone listed, please do tell us. We will look at the listing again, although we are not able to investigate on your behalf.

Checking Someone Yourself

How to check someone for yourself

Most of these professions have a public register, free to search, and any practitioner worth engaging will be glad you looked.

Physiotherapists, podiatrists, chiropodists, occupational therapists and dietitians: the Health and Care Professions Council, hcpc-uk.org
Nurses: the Nursing and Midwifery Council, nmc.org.uk
Solicitors: the Solicitors Regulation Authority, sra.org.uk
Financial advisers: the Financial Conduct Authority register, register.fca.org.uk
Any organisation providing regulated care: the Care Quality Commission, cqc.org.uk
Trades and other unregulated services: ask to see their public liability insurance, and ask for two recent local references

It is also worth asking whether the person holds an enhanced DBS check, since they may be working alone in someone’s home.

If You Are a Local Business

How a business comes to be listed

A local business asks us, or we come across them through our own work in the area and they confirm they are happy to appear. We then publish the details they have given us, as they have given them to us. Inclusion does not rest on any assessment or approval by Starling Homecare, and no listing is ranked, rated or promoted above another.

Asking to be listed

If you work with older people in Hertfordshire and you would like to appear here, email [email protected]. There is no charge, and there never will be. We ask everyone for the same set of details, and that list is published here. We publish it as you give it to us, in your own words, and one email changes or removes it at any time.

What a listing gives you

A page of your own on a site families in Hertfordshire already use, a link straight to your own website, and your name, telephone number and service area published exactly as they appear on your Google Business Profile. That last part matters more than most people realise: search engines trust details that match across the web, and mismatched numbers and addresses are a common reason a good local business is hard to find.

Smiling Starling Homecare carer talking with an elderly man, showing compassionate home care for older adults.

Common Questions About This Directory

Are these services provided by Starling Homecare?

No. Every business listed here is an independent local company or practitioner. We do not employ, manage or supervise them, and any agreement or payment is between you and them. Our own service is care at home across Hertfordshire, which is separate from this directory.

Does a listing mean Starling Homecare recommends that business?

No. We share these details because families ask us for them. We do not check or verify anyone’s qualifications, registration, insurance or standard of work, so a listing is not a recommendation, an endorsement or an approval. Please make your own enquiries before engaging anyone.

Do businesses pay to be listed?

No. Nobody pays to appear here, we take no commission and we accept no referral fee, in either direction. If a business offers, we decline.

What a listing means, and what it does not

It means a local business has asked to appear, or agreed to appear, and that we have published the details they gave us. It is not a recommendation, not an endorsement, not a check on their credentials and not a guarantee of any piece of work.

Who is responsible for these services

The business itself. They are independent of Starling Homecare, and any contract, payment or agreement is between you and them. We accept no responsibility or liability for their work or for anything arising from it.

How to update or remove a listing

Email [email protected] and we will change or remove it. We aim to make the change within five working days.

If You Are Not Sure Who You Need

Write down what is actually getting difficult at home. It is often movement, feet, memory, meals or the house itself.
Read the section above that matches, which explains what that service does and what to ask.
Contact the business directly. Ask what they charge, whether they visit at home, how soon they could come, and about their registration and insurance.
If daily support at home turns out to be the real need, our team will talk it through with you on 01727 324 127 or [email protected].