To think no one should have to sit in a smoky room for employment?

[orangegeranium]

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Yanbu. We have various therapists visit our son at home. With one we have to sign a contract about what things are acceptable and I'm sure smoking is on the list of things that we can't do while she is there. Also no TV, pets at therapist's discretion (our cats are fine as our therapist likes them but she could say no cats and we would have to keep them out of the room), no play dates at the same time as therapy etc. Ds's speech therapist is allergic to cats so the cats get put out and the room hoovered before she comes, common courtesy IMO.

It depends on the job but, while I can understand why your sister found unpleasant, it seems, with limited information at least, to be a bit unkind.

The agency should have a policy on it but really I think it's rude of the woman to expect her to sit in the room with her while she smokes.
The woman could have waited until your sister left and if all day every person did that it would have a serious impact on your sisters health.

She could lie like I do and say she's pregnant and it makes her feel sick.

I've had a patient dying of lung cancer (yes really) agree to hold on for 5 minutes until I'd left. She was a chain smoker like I've never seen before. If she can do it then anyone can wait.

The agency should have a policy of clients not smoking. As well as being unfair on the carer, the carer could have to go on to another client and would now smell of smoke.

""The problem is her shifts are made up of groups of different people.""

The real issue is the structure of Care agencies. Low wages and Managers who can't put together shift patterns that work for both the Service User and the Carer.

I've done home care, I've also put packages together for Service Users. The usual is stop smoking half an hour before.

However some people need supervision whilst smoking. I'm a non smoker, but it never bothered me and there will be enough Staff available who it won't bother, so it's about getting the Carer to match the client.

There is a fine line between Care and Control and we shouldn't make people stop smoking completely, to receive Care.

Your relative should take it up with the Agency and not be criticising the Service User to all and sundry.

Is she maintaining correct confidentiality?

YANBU, can she be taken off the rota for this client or can the client be told the rule re no cigs for 30 minutes or during her visit? It's a very reasonable request, IMO.

Yanbu at all!!!

I was a support worker years ago and my employer made it clear to me that I did not need to stay in someone's home if they started smoking whilst I was there.

Given the nature of zero hours contracts, I think it's naive to say "they should swap in another carer who's happy to do it" and think that's all fine. You're effectively putting pressure on workers to opt in to carcinogenic exposure and although you might be able to get away with it legally I think it's extremely shaky morals.

How could the woman be smoking if she was eating a meal?

Crisp I saw someone in a cafe (years ago) who was smoking in between bites of food. Turned my stomach!

Drive we also have a policy that carers are not allowed to smoke between visits, and if they are caught it's gross misconduct.

If you live in a council house, a council worker can refuse to carry out work if you are smoking
She shouldn't have to sit there inhaling someone else's smoke.
I am a nurse and have worked in nursing homes where people smoked in a smoking room. I would go in there, light the cigarette and wait outside and watch them. I would never sit in there and breathe it in, it's unreasonable to expect someone to do this.
She could've asked her if she minded waiting until she had gone to smoke, or discuss it with the family and explain why she didn't want to sit in there.
Hopefully she has explained to her line manager what happened, and they can help sort something out, whether its agreeing that she doesn't smoke while your sister is there, or someone else takes over who doesn't mind. I hope she has support from her manager.

My husband is an employed heating engineer. The company expect him to carry out his work around customers who smoke. His company do not have a policy on passive smoking. All he is advised to do is ask the customer to stop.

Freudian she doesn't need to be sacked for discussing her situation. She is obviously worried! As long as she didn't give any details about the lady she isn't doing anything wrong

Either way, she shouldn't be discussing clients with anybody else. I'd sack her for that alone.
You can't sack someone for talking about a work situation outside of work when absolutely no identifiable information has been divulged.

You can reflect on a situation aslong as the client themselves cannot be identified. Aslong as patient identifying infomation is not disclosed reflections on practice are encouraged- otherwise how would anybody ever improve!

I do not think your sister is being unreasonable- i find both fresh and stale cigarette smoke revolting. So disrespectful of the service user, i hope she gets some support from her employer... although i imagine she wont.

As a health worker, our call centre would advise "clients" to extinguish cigarettes prior to our arrival. We were supported by our employer refuse to enter if smoking was actively taking place and the "client" was not being co-operative. I am aware that the local authority issued all letters for home visits for any council employee stating the same. No smoking 1/2 prior to advised time of visit.

If the company your family member works for does not have a policy on this it may be worth consulting a union (e.g. Unison) for support. Unfortunately it is not encapsulated in specific law - although an employer has a duty to protect its employees from risk - there is guidance on how an employer can deal with exceptional circumstances such as working in a private home.

See link for information from UNISON : www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2015/03/TowebSmoking-at-Work-Information-Sheet2.pdf

voiceofreason Please don't confuse the specifics of the Caldicott Guidelines and Data Protection Act.

Caldicott Guidelines concerns "patient identifiable" information and how this should be protected. The discussion of situation is not prohibited in healthcare - in fact it is encouraged on a peer review basis - so we can all learn from other people's successes or mistakes. As long as information is not patient identifiable

Data Protection requires a person to protect personal information

I see no breach of either legislation in this thread and as long as the OP is not being told specific patient name or information such as address etc that would identify them specifically - there is no need for any disciplinary action.

(I am a Caldicott Guardian for my current employer - protecting patient information is my job)

Sorry I meant to direct that last comment to Freudianslurp not voiceofreason!