very basic question - who lets the carers in? And slightly less basic - is a keysafe really safe?

[Canitreallybehappening20]

This is a very obvious question - but, when the dparents have carers coming in daily, does it work to have the dparent let them in (or do they ever not hear the door, or just forget? I know it would depend on the individual, obviously, but would be grateful for any advice!)

I know the alternative's a keysafe - are there any that pp would particularly recommended as being ultrasafe? (Old habits die hard, so the idea of leaving a key outside is quite nervous-making for a newcomer to this!)

Top shelf - is someone was going to do that, I think they'd just force the actual door!
Keysafes are great. I want one for myself.

Exactly topshelf - it's a semi-detached though, so keysafe could be kept round the back which might reduce the risk slightly.

ah, good point needtoknow.

I have just bought TWO Key Safes for my DS. He lives in a second floor flat. I am so worried he will lock himself out!
One Key Safe is going to go by the communal front door with just that key in it [access to just 4 flats including his] and the other is for his 2 front door keys - there's a water meter cupboard next to his front door we are going to put it in.
I think they're a great idea.
I got mine from GumTree.

In 18 years as a district nurse I have never heard of them being broken into /misused I have however had many instances where they've saved lives, prevented falls, prevented services having to break in. I'd say definitely worth the money.

Key safe is the best option

Mums carers knock and come in - in the day she leaves the door on the latch anyway (she won't change) but at the beginning of the day and in the evening the carers use the key in the key safe, still knocking
Mum usually pops out to see who it is (she has dementia) but wouldn't necessarily answer a knock - great because she also doesn't tend to answer the door to cold callers
Can't tell you what make it is as it was fitted by the council but it works well. Ours is hidden on the side wall of the house so not immediately visible from the road this was a requirement by the home insurance company.

So many different carers in a month (she has 4 visits a day) plus cleaner, her companion and family members means it's easier to have a key safe - the loss of keys would be too much of an issue otherwise

I've never heard of one being forced off a wall etc. They are usually put in a slightly obscure location. Not right next to the front door at eye level, but waist height around the corner, behind the bush, behind the step/bin storage etc.
If having it inside an open side gate on the wall or near the back door is an option, it certainly reduces the risk of vandalism from it being on view on the high st.

Another District Nurse here.
Never heard of them being used improperly but imagine the risk is there.
Try and have it fitted down the side of the house out of view.
We put a wall planter infront of my Grans as she is on a main road so it was a bit obvious to passers by

Security lights also help. I work at night, near impossible to see numbers when its midnight and chucking it down.

I think for this and many other reasons the sooner smart doors/locks become much cheaper and more prevalent the better.

I’ve lost count the number of times myself or dd locked ourselves out with doors that lock automatically.

An older relative of mine has had one for about 10 years now, she has carers in several times a day now and she lives in actually quite a rough area! Very reassuring for us.

Red presumably you are going to run that communal key safe past the inhabitants of the other flats and the landlord/leaseholder. Some people might not be very keen.

graphista do you mean your relative has a smart door lock? How do they work? I suspect that level of technology, instead of a key, would be out of the question for the dparent in question - but would be very interested to know how they work!
Interesting that house insurance requires key safe to be out of sight - I wouldn't have thought of checking the policy wording.

Home insurance wasn't a problem but it said that we needed to tell them (it was social services that told us we should check) and they said they had no problem but it had to be situated out of obvious site preferably not on the front elevation and it's noted on the policy.

I have a key safe for no other reason than I am an idiot who regularly locks myself out!

I have also analysed local burglary data over many uears (for work, not a sad hobby) and I can't recall any with access related to the key safe. MIL is a carer and she has said she has only known 1 occasion where a key safe has been removed from the wall and attempts made to open it but they gave up.

I have a combination key safe bought from Amazon which is screwed to the wall in an obscure location.

Keysafe came in handy twice for ambulance crew to get in when mum pressed the panic button.

We fitted the key safe ourselves. Round the back, obscured by a downpipe.

Keep all the "wrong" buttons polished and push them in and out a few times to make sure they work as smoothly as the "right" buttons. And of course you can change the code - even if you don't want to do it regularly, you can change the code if you have a change of care agency, for example.

Advantage of a button/wheel key safe over a card operated one is you can arrange eg a medical appointment remotely, and tell the person the key code so they can get in. Even better if you've called the ambulance but can't get round there yourself to let them in.

For what it's worth, holiday lets are increasingly going in for key safes. These are houses where the locals will know the changeover day, will notice if it's empty for a week, and yet owners are happy to leave the keys in a key safe.

My father was in the habit of unintentionally leaving the front door unlocked - at least it stayed locked if he wasn't answering it and the carers were locking it as they left. So I think he was safer with a key safe than without.

Care agency won't want keys for the simple reason that a carer may be seeing a dozen different clients - what if she needed keys for all of them? And what if she was delayed at one place and needed someone to stand in for her?

Mil had a security door fitted by the council, one that she could open with a button from her bed after verifying who was there.

I think she had a key safe as well

We have a key safe. My mum is in a granny annex in our garden so in effect she lives alone although we share the driveway so anyone coming up the drive alerts our dogs.

Yesterday was the first day of the carers working with her so we have shown them the key safe and the carer will let herself in in the morning and the evening carer will use the key to lock the door at night.

Hopefully the system will work.

We installed a key safe for my DM when she had to have carers and district nurses visit after her hospital discharge. I visited a locksmith and was advised against the spin dial ones and I went for a mid priced push button one. They're very easy to fit, just need a good drill. The one we got could be fitted inside or outside and had a rubber cover for if it was used outside. We fitted it inside DM's porch so it was less visible from the road. Don't use a code that would be easy to discover, eg your loved one's date of birth or phone number.

Keysafe worked well for Dads neighbour.
He wouldnt have heard the door, nor able to answer the door, so just never bothered locking it (very rural). Anything but that!

Thank you for all this information. We are sole carers for my Mum, I’m scared that we are going to have to self isolate and she’d be stuck. She has finally agreed to a key safe to help put my mind at rest so this has been really helpful.

We've used one and they've worked very well. One piece of advice would be to put it somewhere where it's not visible from the pavement outside, if possible, as that way you're less likely to get the opportunists

Yes Bluebell my question was prompted by that very thought as well - very useful to read about all the experiences! Out of sight is obviously the way to go.