Specialist support for adults whose needs have outgrown standard home care.
We look after adults in their own homes across Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Some have been supported by us for as long as twenty-three years — many by the same people who started with them.
Complex mental health, autism, learning disabilities and behavioural distress — support built around the person, not the rota. From two hours a day to twenty-four.
We don’t take every case.
When we do, we stay.
Established in 2004. Independently led by Vierka Hiscock since 2017.
When families contact us
Most families don’t contact us because they need care. They contact us because something isn’t working.
Maybe the support you had has broken down again. Your son or daughter may still rely on you for everything. Anxiety could be making daily life smaller and smaller. Or perhaps agencies have come and gone, and you are tired of explaining the same story to a new face every week.
And quietly, you have begun to wonder what happens when you are no longer able to provide this support yourself.
If any of that sounds familiar, you’re not alone — and you don’t need to have it all worked out before you call us. The first conversation is confidential, unhurried, and commits you to nothing.
How can we help?
Find the right starting point
For families
Worried about someone?
Support when caring for an adult at home is becoming harder to manage — and you want people who will stay.
For families →For private clients
Funding support privately
Flexible, relationship-led support outside commissioning frameworks — faster decisions, full discretion, planning for the future.
Private clients →For professionals
Making a referral?
We work alongside local authorities, case managers, social workers and healthcare teams on complex, long-term placements.
Discuss a referral →What we support
Complex support, delivered at home
We are not a one-hour-visit agency, and we are not live-in-care only. We deliver the full intensity spectrum — tailored to the individual.
Mental health support
For adults whose mental health is complex enough that standard provision hasn’t held. Daily structure, consistent relationships, and a calm environment in which therapy and recovery can stick.
Autism support
Built around what works for the person — sensory thresholds, communication preferences, predictable routines, decompression time. We listen to the person who lives it.
Learning disabilities
For adults who want more independence than they have now — a slow, careful path toward more control over their own lives, often working alongside parents who are tired or getting older.
Behavioural distress
We rarely find people “challenging.” Distress is almost always an expression of something — pain, sensory overload, unmet need. We work patiently to understand it.
From two hours a day to 24/7
Packages range from a few daily visits to round-the-clock community support — always shaped around the person and what they actually need.
Independent living mentoring
For adults building a more independent life — money, routines, relationships, work — with someone steady walking alongside them, not doing it for them. Our Director is a qualified coach and mentor; our Service Manager, Deputy Manager and two Team Leaders are trained in mentoring.
Why families choose us
Three things that make us different
We don’t take every case
We say no to more enquiries than we accept — not to be exclusive, but so the people we do take on get our full attention and our time. And if you’re worried we might say no, ask us anyway: we’ll always be honest with you about whether we’re the right fit.
We stay
Some of the people we support have been with us as long as twenty-three years. The same two or three people cover each home, week after week — no revolving door, and no reciting your relative’s needs to a stranger every shift.
You reach senior people
There’s no call centre. Your enquiry is handled by our Service Manager, Joe Sparrow, and Deputy Manager, Jessica White — both long-standing — with Director Vierka Hiscock overseeing every case. So when something matters, you’re talking to someone who can actually act.
If that sounds like the support you’re looking for, talk to us. The first conversation is unhurried and commits you to nothing.
Talk to usReal lives we support
Names changed. Details true to the work we actually do.
Audrey
Anxiety & isolationLives alone since her partner died; anxiety made leaving the house unbearable. Two consistent support workers, one visit a day. Six months in, she walks to the corner shop once a week and runs her own diary again.
Mr Williams
Autism · 24/7 supportRound-the-clock support in his own home for seven years. Three support workers he knows by name. Predictable routines, a sensory-aware environment. His parents finally sleep.
Eileen
Mental health recoveryDischarged from a long admission with no daily structure. We provided the consistent presence that made the therapy stick. Three years on, she lives independently with two visits a week.
Betty
Learning disability · independent livingMoved out of her parents’ home in her late thirties. We walked alongside her for eighteen months — money, routines, neighbours, her own front door. She now mentors a younger client.
Mr Smith
Behavioural distressDescribed as “challenging” by three previous providers. We listened to what the distress was telling us. Two years in: no agency placements, no escalations, quality of life transformed.
Olive
Nine years with usAmong our first clients in 2017. Same lead support worker for nine years. Her family no longer counts the years — they count the things she’s done in them.
“Most agencies are organised around the rota. We organise ourselves around the person.”
Vierka Hiscock, Managing Director & Registered ManagerGovernance & quality
We treat compliance as a daily practice
Not an annual scramble — and not just paperwork. Here’s what each of these actually means for the person you are trusting us with. Every claim is evidenced, and available to see on request.
CQC — rated Good
The Care Quality Commission is the government’s independent regulator. They inspect us in person — and have rated us Good. It means an outside inspector has seen the real care, not a brochure, and judged it safe, effective and caring. Vierka Hiscock is personally accountable as Registered Manager and Nominated Individual.
ISO 9001 — quality, independently audited
Uncommon for a home-care provider. Every year, an external auditor checks that the quality of our care isn’t left to memory or goodwill — it is written down, followed, measured and improved. So the support stays consistent whoever is on shift, and gets better over time rather than slipping.ISO 9001:2015 · cert 282832018 · valid to 07/05/2028
ISO 45001 — safety, independently audited
Rarer still in our sector. This is the international standard for keeping people safe from harm — both the people we support and the staff who support them. Each year an independent auditor checks that we catch risks before they become incidents. For your family, safety isn’t left to chance — someone outside the company signs it off.ISO 45001:2018 · cert 374412021 · valid to 01/07/2028
Evidenced every day — not the day before
Our compliance lives on a platform (Citation Quiqcare) that is updated continuously. Most providers scramble to get ready for an inspection; we are ready every day, because the evidence is built as we work. Ask to see any of it — we will show you.
Member, South Gloucestershire Adult Strategic Safeguarding Board · Insured through Marsh Commercial · Nourish for care planning · Citation for HR & compliance
If it matters, talk to us.
If you are worried about an adult whose needs are complex, emotional, slow to resolve or rarely linear — and the standard care models have already been tried — we should talk.
0117 405 4320 [email protected] Send a confidential message There is no call centre. You reach senior people who know the work — Joe Sparrow and Jessica White take enquiries, with Vierka Hiscock overseeing every case. We normally respond within one working day.Verified by clients & families on homecare.co.uk
“I have used Care Horizons on my son’s behalf in excess of ten years; the level of care and the friendship they have provided has been of a very high level.”
G S · Father of client · via homecare.co.uk