To ask for your help to nail this CF

[stayathomegardener]

Long story but my friend and neighbour of 20 year recently came out of hospital following a broken hip and pneumonia.

This combined with her care agency folding and a few weeks ago I helped her select a new agency.

All this has taken its toll on her and she is currently pretty much bed bound so I have been "training" each new staff member as they first arrive about how her systems work and especially her coal Rayburn.

All going well so far.

But yesterday I get a panicked phone call at 12.30, a new staff member had arrived, shoved a half bowl of porridge at her, no cup of tea, no commode emptying and had disappeared without saying goodbye leaving the house smelling of smoke.

I arrived at 12.45 sorted everything out (the door was left open on the Rayburn hence the smell)
We decided to wait together for her return at 1.30ish so I could run through the "training" by 1.45 I was getting a bit frustrated so I checked the agency book only to find the carer had signed as being there from 1.20- 1.48! Apparently my friend wasn't hungry and didn't want any lunch.

I rang the agency straight away to basically say they had a carer falsifying their records and currently can't seem to get them to take this seriously.

They phoned the carer yesterday for an explanation and she then said I met her at the gate and told her my friend wasn't hungry so not to bother and talked about cows for a bit. WTAF? We do both live on farms but really...

This has rumbled on today via email (I'm trying to at least document everything) but surely this carer should at least be suspended?

Thank heaven your friend has you sorting out this appalling situation, @stayathomegardener - it is terrible that the care agency aren’t taking this more seriously. My mum has a regular carer who comes in to help her whilst she is recovering from a hospital stay, and I would be furious if her carer was doing what this person is doing. It is neglect and fraud.

this explains how to escalate complaints against carers

I’m glad your neighbour has you to help her, I cannot fathom anyone who would treat someone vulnerable so terribly. I hope you get them to sit up and listen! And that it never happens again.

Why be a carer if they are going to treat people this way? I mean it’s hardly highly paid and feeding them, emptying a commode is the very basic one could expect surely?

I wouldn’t let the compliant rest I know that, if the carer has done this to your friend how many others and sadly some won’t have any family or friends to sort to make a complaint.

that's horrific! So brazen! Well done for pursuing it.

Eek

Report them, or threaten to, the care quality commission. Hopefully that will get things moving!
www.cqc.org.uk/contact-us/how-complain/complain-about-service-or-provider

My Mil's carers had to phone into their office using mils house phone, on arrival and before they left. It recorded and proved they ha been there.
My ch better system.

Put a formal complaint into the care company and contact CQC. I use to be a care co ordinator and would dismiss for this!

Could you ask them to ask the carter for a physical description of you. And an explanation as to why they left the commode full, Rayburn open etc

Wouldn't know what to do in this situation but wow, that is disgusting on the carers part. Thank God for you OP and good on you for taking it further!

According to her, you talked about cows for 28 minutes!

And somehow she thinks that's a reasonable excuse to not do any work.

Definitely complain.

Have you asked how she signed in/out of the agency book on her second visit if you met her at the gate?

If you don't get a satisfactory response from the agency you can let CqC and adult social care know.

As a side point if your friend has a connection to agriculture it may be worth seeing if RABI can help at all. They are pretty good at sorting out equipment and small grants.

Unless they are privately funded by your friend and it was agreed in advance I wouldn't be surprised if the agency say that sorting out the Rayburn isn't their remit, and to be honest I could see their point (and I say that as someone with a vast amount of experience with wood fired rayburns!)

If adult social care haven't so far been involved in her care it may be worth getting them involved any way as they may be able to offer some rehab and it would be their job to take any issues with care agency up with the agency.

Absolutely disgusting. Thank God she has you OP, you're amazing and such a wonderful friend.

Bless you. Have seen this occasionally and also had no luck complaining to agency or local authority. Fortunately, most carers are genuine but the trouble is agencies push them too hard ie not paying time driving between clients.
It is not good enough to say a client 'wasn't hungry' either - part of the care is coaxing, encouraging and not letting the client feel like a burden!!
It could be worth exploring private carers - we found this worked out MUCH better for us.

Good God op, absolutely terrible. I was a care manager for two years and I soon learnt the tricks the poorer carers got up to. The vast majority were great and went above and beyond for their minimum wages but I inherited staff that, well, I wouldn't have employed to put it politely.

One weekend I got a call from a terrified client's family. A lovely, rather well to do lady, had been woken up by a carer in her home, only it certainly wasn't the carer she was expecting. It was the rather drunken family member of the carer who was more or less comatose at home and had sent her instead hoping it would suffice! Yes, really.

I was going to go to her home and sack her for gross misconduct, but she beat me to it, met me at the office door and handed me her uniform.

I am doubtful about your neighbour's agency here op. Is it a private contract or a social services/council one? If it is and was reported to them they would be on the case and believe me agencies are terrified of losing contracts like this. This may be a way forward.

I would certainly have taken action here and their reluctance to do so tells me they may have more staff like this due to their lack of diligence.

I don’t have any advice just wanted to say thank fuck your neighbour has you around.

I second taking it further if the agency don’t take this seriously as they absolutely should do.

Shocking. Your neighbour is very lucky to have you looking out for her. Please report as suggested by PP.

That is shocking. I'm so glad your friend has you. I hope you get it sorted out and get a decent carer coming in to your friend.

Have you taken copies of the false entries? If the Agency is that lax I wouldn't be surprised if the evidence conveniently disappeared.

I would report to the local Social Services Safeguarding Team and CQC as well, it's completely unacceptable from the Carer and would be suspension pending investigation followed by dismissal for gross misconduct if proved.

We're always reminded that in addition to all other reasons this is bad it is also technically fraud because someone (either your friend or Local Authority) will be charged for services not delivered.

Thanks so much for replying, have just skimmed through but will read properly later.

To answer a few questions.

Friend is privately funded, she did have six weeks of rapid response social services care when she came home, them finishing coincided with her previous agency's collapse.

Social services sourced this new company (realistically though there wasn't anyone else who could provide four daily visits)
We interviewed them together and to be fair her main carer is excellent and the others range from very good to willing but hopeless.

The Rayburn has been managed by everyone so far, it's really quite simple, I've left clear pictorial instructions, friend is super switched on but frail so could talk anyone through it and I'm only round the corner if anyone is stuck.

Agency now says CF can't sign in remotely , can only do so on her phone by scanning the QCR code on the book. And CF's phone shows she scanned in and out at the times stated.
We tested that this morning by getting the next carer to sign in by scanning a picture of the QCR taken on my phone, worked perfectly.

Latest is CF can describe me, apparently I was wearing a flat cap...
I showed her the coal sheds and the cats routine and then she fed said cats. This is getting ridiculous.

I was actually in decorating clothes and wellies all covered in paint, fairly distinctive.

The thing that really spurred me on this morning was fabulous main carer said something happened previously with cf carer, book was filled in saying tablets given to a lady with dementia on a particular visit but family visited later and noticed the tablets were still in the blister pack.

CF got out of that by saying she left the pack out as the client didn't want to take them.

Fabulous carer said her suspicion then was she didn't visit the second time and double filled her entries.

The agency has at least on request removed friend from cf rota.

How strange that she is making up things about what you talked about and what you were wearing. Bizarre behaviour. Keep complaining.

Really appreciate all the advice, dyslexic so hard to name check as I forget them by the time I start to post but reading through again I now have a check list.

Escalate to a manager and ask the agency for a copy of their complaints procedure.

Follow that up.

If no joy go through the CQC.

Possibly flag up with adult social care manager, I still have her details.

Investigate private care.

Change the key safe code!

Buy a CCTV indoor Cameras x