Are carers taking the piss?

[londewy123]

Hi all, I'd really appreciate some advice for others who might have been through the same situation.

My retired parents have hired carers to come to their house 3 times a day, 7 days a week for 1 hour per visit recently- they hired them within the last month.

Dad has (3 days ago) been diagnosed with vascular dementia and my mum has had servere, demolishing depression for 4 years.

Dad doesn't really want carers but needs them to prepare meals, wash up and do basic things like take out the bins.

My concern is recently I've been off work to take dad to appointments and if i randomly come in the house:

X The carers aren't wearing PPE at all!
X They're late by 30 minutes to an hour for their start time- no call or explanation!
X the carers don't seem to do abything; don't engage with parents, house is a shit heap, no washing has been done, floor really obviously dirty, fridge empty almost as if a carer hasn't even been in, let alone three in any 24 hour period!! 7 days a week!! I went in today randomly and the fridge was full of empty food packets. Nothing had been done.

It's heart breaking. I can't afford to give up my job (my own family depend on it).

Should I complain to the carer company? Am I expecting too much?! Wtf, this is the first really experience I've had with carers.

My parents are paying £25,400 PER YEAR for carers to come in 3 times a day, every day per year.

Am I being unreasonable to think they should wear PPE, actually mop the floor, wash clothes? Ensure fridge is semi full of food?
It's so depressing to feel my parents are being taken advantage of.

I work full time and am there when I can be,, hence why we've employed carers!!

Are they carers or cleaners?

Carers would usually only provide personal care

No, that’s really not true - not with private carers

OP - does the company have an app or website you can log o to to see what the carers have done for the visit?

It might be better for them to employ a separate cleaner and find a new care company , have they had a care needs assessment ?

I've done care work in the past. domiciliary care we wouldn't have time to do a full food shop or wash or iron if it's 3 hours a day spread out you are constantly thinking about the next visit.
Dom care was mostly personal care and a simple prepared meal then light cleaning maybe you should consider a live in carer/support worker if you want house keeping cleaning and care.

When I was a support worker the longer packages of care I.e 12 hour shift I would have time to do everything.

My 78 year old friend is caring for her 90 year old husband with Alzheimer's. They are paying £245 a week for 2 cleaner/housekeepers who come once a week to change and wash bedding and towels, hoover through the whole place, clean windows inside, clean bathroom and kitchen to a really high standard, do all washing and ironing etc, plus a carer who comes every day and is totally to grips with the DH's medication regime, takes him out for lunch/socialising, local museums, etc and writes up a full care plan every day.

Carers should be wearing PPE. They should also be disinfecting surfaces they’ve been touching - eg light switches

If you like, I can PM you with the name of a care agency I use for my mother. They are very good and do all the things you say your carers aren’t doing - plus I see from the app a report on each visit

Sorry, he doesnt write up Care Plan every day... he completes notes.

That's sad. Even if they were doing the jobs to a fair standard, it seems expensive. That works out to £23 (approx) per hour. Over the year.

You need a detailed care plan including a set itinerary. Make your expectations clear. I'd also want to be present for some of their visits to see what's getting done when your watching, so you know what isn't getting done when you're not.

Are they personal carers or more of a home help/cleaners set up? Do your parents pay them, or is it arranged through social services?
Hard to comment without knowing what they are supposed to be doing for your parents.

They should be wearing as a minimum, gloves, aprons and mask though.

I didn’t think carers would do cleaning. Agree with others that less carer visits and a cleaner might be a better combination. Perhaps you can help with shopping if only online?

If you need cleaners, employ a cleaner.They should be wearing PPE and not belate.Carers do not do shopping either.
You need to employ a different company and a cleaner.
You need to ensure their shopping is done and sometimes you can get a kind of nice part time local helper who will do things like this.

OP - how did your parents manage to engage carers if your dad has dementia and your mum has severe depression?

The key here, as plenty of other carers have said before me, is - what does the care plan say?

Hi i was a carer for 4 years. in response to you points below.
X The carers aren't wearing PPE at all! Thats just all kinds of wrong. PPE should be always worn. covid or none covid. youre prepping food, so cleanliness is a must
X They're late by 30 minutes to an hour for their start time- no call or explanation! Ok thats might no be helped. Sometimes another client might hold up the carers. This happens sometime, especially when they are being awkward and do not want to co-operate. An hour call getting someone ready for bed with dementia might take and hour and a half, carers have to be patient
X the carers don't seem to do anything; don't engage with parents, house is a shit heap, no washing has been done, floor really obviously dirty, fridge empty almost as if a carer hasn't even been in, let alone three in any 24 hour period!! 7 days a week!! I went in today randomly and the fridge was full of empty food packets. Nothing had been done. need to know what they are paying for. if care package says get dressed and ready for bed, then that's the job. Your parents should have a care book which states all the job roles and if they are unfulfilling it, then you need to report this to the senior carer. You can take it further with the authorities and occupational therapist/doctor can also point you to the right direction

You know you aren't expecting too much so stop with that.

The fridge is empty and the floor is filthy so they aren't fulfilling either role so irrelevant whether they are cleaners or carers in a way.

The fridge is empty and the floor is filthy so they aren't fulfilling either role so irrelevant whether they are cleaners or carers in a way.

If it isn’t their job to clean the floor or fill the fridge it is entirely relevant.

Carers aren’t there to do everything, they will have specific set roles. And OP can’t complain if they are late, if she then expects them to do more than their time allows when they visit her parents.

If you are paying privately then it is whatever is on the care plan, which can include cleaning tasks and shopping. This should have been decided at the start with a frank discussion about what is reasonable in the time they are there. Speak to the care agency and start by clarifying what the expectations are. If it's been arranged through the council then you should speak to whoever has arranged it, but it may not include cleaning or shopping. In terms of lateness, it's tricky because it's the sort of job where things can easily run over, stuff happens etc - it's better to see the times as a rough estimate, give or take 20 minutes.

I wouldn’t be happy with that. Neither I nor my family have had carers but would it be feasible to drop at least one of the daily visits and hire a cleaner and get online shopping delivered?

Complain

Some carers do do shopping.
It will be on their Care Plan
You need to sort this out with the Agency

The carers are exploting you and your parents.

And they can clean OF it is on the Care Plan.

£23 per hour?? The carers will be getting minimum wage and the rest is the agency fee.
Find your own carer, interview them and employ them directly that way you can be clear what is needed.

Hi op. Who arranged the care? Was it your parents? I would check what the carers think they are supposed to be doing. If you're not happy with the care then don't be afraid to change it. Some care agencies are not good. If you are paying privately you are still entitled to ask for an assessment from adult social care, and they can help you identify a better agency and write up a care plan. Obviously if your parents savings are over the threshold they will still need to pay, but it may help with getting a better service for your parents. I would expect carers to clean if there was a reason why it can't otherwise be done, ie dementia.

@SBTLove

£23 per hour?? The carers will be getting minimum wage and the rest is the agency fee. Find your own carer, interview them and employ them directly that way you can be clear what is needed.

I wouldn’t do that - you need a decent care agency, insured, regulated and with trained carers that have a decent employ,ent history with the agency and that have been vetted

Just to say, I would expect carers to be able to check the fridge and cupboards for suitable food and help them replace the basics. There are also meal services that your parents can tap into, either microwave meals or hot meals. Again, I would expect the care agency to go through this and support your parents to order them each week.

Complain and put it in writing. A company is profiting over their arrangements and basic PPE and on time (baring emergencies but then they should call) is a minimum. Another minimum an agreed list of things to do.

I wonder if they've paid for a 'check in' rather than work to do? Sounds like they need some help her @londewy123. Can you take a day off work, have meeting with company, provide list of things to do and maybe get the house in shape or hiring a cleaning company? Many of these arrangements don't include deep cleans. They may be better off with a carer 2x a day and a cleaning company weekly that hoovers, dusts, cleans bathrooms, cleans kitchen, sweeps, wipes down surfaces, does bedding etc.

@Aridane
As an employer OP can do the same checks as an agency, many of whom employ staff with no experience as long as they pass a cbs/pvg check

Agree with a lot of what BetterCare had to say and SBTLove

They do allow customers to pay privately for their services from my understanding and they would be much more accountable

They are the same companies usually and people have to pay if they have any savings. My experience of dealing with them was inconsistent care, inconsistent timekeeping (early morning visit would rock up at 11:30, would bump into the lunch visit on the way out resulting in meals being missed) and more monitoring of health resulting in hospitalisation.

I wouldn’t [go private] - you need a decent care agency, insured, regulated and with trained carers that have a decent employ,ent history with the agency and that have been vetted

Private carers are also checked, insured etc. Most of them go private because of the frustrations of working through agencies who pay badly and overload the schedules with short visits for council funded clients who can't go elsewhere. They want to provide good care consistently and build relationships with their clients.

OP: I found much better carers by going privately. We were lucky and found local recommendations but the upshot was the same faces every day, longer visits and more flexible services and to my astonishment it worked out cheaper when I was expecting it to cost more. Elderly relatives quality of life has been transformed by having them.