Employee with learning difficulties can’t cook for residents with learning disabilities

[Libertyy]

How would you feel about this as a manager or even a colleague? This is a role where you’re expected to cook meals for people supported in their own shared home

Without any further details it seems to be a bad recruitment choice if the staff member can't fulfil a key (?) part of the role. Does it impact on you ie do you have to manage this person or pick up their slack? Does it fail the service users regularly?

What’s the context here? Has someone been given a job with cooking responsibility and has since said they can’t cook due to their own disabilities?

Can they not cook because they are simply lacking the skills and need training or because there is simply no capacity?

Why can’t they cook?

Are they a poor cook who can improve with training?
What is the whole role and how important is the cooking part?

If I were the manager I would want to know what reasonable adjustments had been agreed

She started a year ago we don’t use her to cover that often but she declared complex mh issues and a learning difficulty, it affected her pace with even making scrambled egg in the microwave and buttered warm toast, affects the time she takes to cut the food into pieces and she hasn’t had any medication competency as she had a risk assessment preventing being around medication on the night so doesn’t have medication competency but I know this has been lifted and she even cannot support anyone 1:1 in the community especially if the weather is harsh.

Part of the job is being able to cook meals even simple meals for the residents as everyone has a role to do depending on their shift and it’s hard when she’s on

I mean there are other staff who can do it but if two are hoisting one resident, and she has dressed and showered the other we do require her to be able to do this. She has no idea how to cook unless supervised by another staff member, struggles with pace so by the time she had the toast ready and cut up it’s already cold

Sorry, I'm confused. Is this a resident in some sort of support living who started cooking for the other residents? Or someone that was hired as a cook/chef? Why are they handling medications? Their own meds or residents? Is that part of the job? A supported living/carer type role?

If they aren't safe in the role surely there has been a risk assessment for the cooking part of their role? A referral to occupational health?

She’s had multiple referrals with various outcomes, she’s vocal about this to everyone. This is as a support worker where part of the job description is you are expected to pass a medication competency to administer medication to people supported in a supported living environment. The issue is she hasn’t had the competency for medication due to her own situation so whenever she has worked on shift with us or when we have been short, they keep her on because she does the second shifts on the night nobody else wants to do

I’m not sure how I would feel as a manager or a colleague but as a person whose basic care needs could not be met or a member of their family I would be horrified.

They’re not neglected as we don’t allow it and she always does ask for help straight away because she has a lovely personality with them but I don’t think they (management) realise she also lacks capacity in some ways and it is not a suitable environment for her.

She sounds like a hindrance to those on shift with her but as you said she takes shifts others won’t so she’s still getting shifts.

Even though she’s there to make up the number of staff on shift not being able to fulfill her role means the residents are disadvantaged too.

This is a difficult one as employers are obliged to make reasonable adjustment for staff with additional needs. But it sounds like this person is barely more independent in some skills than the people they are caring for.

If it's supported living, are the residents in anyway able to work with her to prepare the meal, would a check list 'for the resident' help with timings etc. purchase an audible timer so when that goes off, x task needs doing. Pre-programmed with several task programmes. Eg toast prep, tea brewing etc.

It sounds like you need to speak to management and let them know how much support she requires - they may be able to help her.

But reasonable adjustments are to facilitate them doing the job, not to avoid the main tasks. Did they understand what the role entailed when they applied?

I wouldn't be happy as either a manager or colleague. (I've worked in care for more than a decade).
It sounds to me like she isnt really capable of the role at all. I'm guessing she's on the shitty night shift so possibly doesn't have that much face to face time with residents?
I'd say if after a year her performance hasn't improved enough to manage at least 80% of the role then she should be dismissed. If it was just medication that she wasn't able to do then that would be different. But not being able to make basic breakfasts for residents is not ok. Has she been offered any support with meal preparation?

Surely if completely the medication competency is part of the job- then they aren't full filling the job! Or the cooking element either! It sounds like this person was hired with little to no experience for Did they not need any, relevant experience before getting the job?

Our residents do not speak verbally or have capacity there’s about 4 of them, all with varying degrees of complexity and mobility issues. So while two of them could join in with baking, they wouldn’t be allowed in the kitchen while the oven is on and it would be very much them listening and copying what the carer does, as a child would. That’s their level of intellectual disability.

I think she has been shown how to make scrambled eggs multiple times but doesn’t understand how to tell when it’s ready, it’s like her brain does not fully understand it.

She is great at other parts of the job like communicating with patients, assisting with their feeding, hoisting, assisting 2:1s and 2:1 personal care. It’s the singles that she struggles with. I had a meeting with another manager and we all know she has not had regular meetings like she was supposed to have

Is this person classed as a full member of staff? What happens if another staff member is off sick at short notice, would the staff to residents ratio not be unsafe?

Are their parts of the job she is good at? In my dad's care home there was a staff member who obviously struggled with anything involving reading or writing but she was great at chatting to residents and good at calming confused distressed residents. I don't know if she was paid or supernumerary but she made a great contribution. Access to work can fund support workers to help people with their job. It's a little know but great government scheme.

I’m not sure what her contracted hours are, some months I see her so often and others it’s like she’s never there. But when it’s been 2 people including her, it’s really hard work

How are YOU connected to this person? A colleague perhaps?

I think doing a shift no one else wants to do and remaining friendly and happy in a tough environment are harder things to find in an employee than basic cooking and administration of meds. So as part of a team who can do those things then I don’t think it’s a huge issue. But you will know more about how it impacts on everyone.

Sounds like she can fulfil some parts of the role and not others. The management may be making reasonable adjustments for her. If you are a colleague and have concerns about safe working practices being compromised, or about unfair distribution of workload, speak to your manager.

If there are always 2 or more people on shift, I can't see why it matters that she can't cook. That's what, 20 minutes of a task? Just have her allocated as one of the 2:1 carers and have someone else be the 1:1 and meal carer.

If my DD1 ends up taking supported living, my priority would be the kindness and empathy of the staff. It sounds like she has that.