Agency care work

[Colabottles29]

Does anyone have experience of it?
I just want a role where I am independent, NOT working closely with a manager or a senior, not having to constantly report to somebody, not working with the same colleagues daily.
I understand there is a need for monitoring but I am tired of bullying and micromanagement.
I would love a role where I am independent and preferably alone.

We employed a self employer carer for my Nan when she was Alive mostly funded with her attendance allowance

She was great and was more of a companion and took her out and everything

Going back about 10years we used to pay £12 an hr then this lady employed afew other girls and made it into more of a business

Shopping, cleaning, cooking, taking people to appointments, caring, personal care lots of things

It's very popular and she is always fully booked

Self employed is best all round. The customer gets more hours and the worker gets more pay, when the costs of running an agency are removed. Also, when it is between you and the individual customer, you can come to mutually agreeable arrangements. When it is an agency, especially an agency commissioned by a council, the customer and the worker are third in line of control.
Directly employed workers will, for instance, agree to fill the bird feeder or water the window box because, from the bed, that is a significant part of the customer's world. There's no way those tasks would have passed the tick box process of officials, yet the few minutes involved doing that are the most important minutes of all. The customer would gladly trade-off having a sandwich instead of a warm meal, to save up the time for it.

Look into being a direct payments carer.

I have agency carers coming in. You wouldn’t always work alone as some people need two carers. Also you would need to take direction from the client which may come across as critical.

Thanks a lot. I'll look into self employed.

Lone working can be difficult unless your clients have low needs, they will become your employer so what will you do if you feel they or their family are micro managing you. You will need to have appropriate training and a DBS check. You will always report to someone else and accountable for your care. Have you looked at bank work instead with a permanent employer where you will get holiday pay, and possibly sickness benefits.

I'm doing agency care work whilst I am studying for my Masters. It fits my life now and it definitely has some benefits in terms of the things you mention above. You just turn up and do the job, none of the office/team politics etc and I have experienced so many different areas of social care. But also it can be hard to be the new person and people have ideas about 'agency' staff. On a personal level I struggle with the uncertainty of shifts too.