Moving to home carers

[FredaFox]

Hello
I'm after some advice please, my mum has had mobility issues for years but has lived an independent life
In October my mum broke her ankle so was put in hospital as was non weight baring and couldn't manage crutches and her walker
Unfortunately once home where we expected the hardest challenge to be regaining mobility she has had two urine infections which needed hospital stays. Due to this she got pressure sores which weren't managed on her last hospital stay which has resulted in her being stuck in bed at home with the nhs care package 4 x a day and daily district nurses . The sores are improving and doing well
We are coming to the end of the nhs care package and today have a meeting about what happens next. My mum isn't cash rich so is well under the limit of where you pay etc. I'm terrified of private care, can anybody recommend where I can support? You hear such horror stories
Obviously we hope she will be out of bed and even walking in the future though that's obviously far from likely
I just feel alone and not sure where to go

My father is in a private nursing home and is receiving excellent and very caring care. When they needed to call an ambulance for him last year (illness not an accident) one nurse stayed for hours after his shift end to be with him, another carer was being phoned at home with updates.

doesnt sound as if your mum is needing residential care though

They’ll take into account the records of the NHS carers, what they have needed to do for your mum. I presume that’s on line, but if they’re still using a paper diary, it would be worth reading that

No you are right home care is enough right now, I know there are some excellent carers out there but you hear so many stories so I'm just anxious

If you look at agencies you can access their latest Care Quality Commission inspection online. When looking for home care for my mum I found that the report for the main local agency (which is subcontracted by the local council) was not at all good, with quite a few complaints of carers not turning up or even being rude.
i asked around and found a private carer through personal recommendation. The person is wonderful and she and mum get on like a house on fire. She’s in an informal network of local private carers so if/when mum needs more care and more than I can manage, that’s the way I’ll be going.

And just to add, I did work for a while in another area for a home care agency that was superb. All the staff and management were highly caring and committed. Their recruitment processes and training were rigorous and the clients’ needs came first. If you check CQC reports and ring the agency you will get a pretty good idea of what they are like and whether you would be happy with them for your dad. Good luck

My advice is to make sure that you visit regularly. Then you’ll pick up if there are any problems.

My mum had care at home for 2 years and it was all fine. Some of the carers were lovely, some just fine. Some did the bare minimum of care but had engaging personalities and cheered her up. Some were more reserved but more efficient. Some were in between those extremes.

I thought the variety was good, so she got thoroughly washed and the kitchen and bathroom left immaculate some days and other days she had a lovely chat and laugh, whilst her basic needs were met.

No horror stories, thank goodness, and the agency were always receptive to requests, but I did keep a close eye.

Yes, the temptation is to use your visits to break up time when they’d be alone, but arriving in the middle of a carer’s visit can be revealing, or reassuring

Also gives you the chance to have informal chats with the carers and for them to alert you to small things that they wouldn’t necessarily bother reporting.

Second everything HeddaGarbled said! We've had no horror stories.

Thank you . This is very reassuring!
Social worker has been today to assess needs, next week it will go to broker, I'd like to think we will get a choice but with the state of the care system I suspect we won't get a choice

Pressed send in error!

Thankfully I work from home a few days a week so I intend to work from hers to keep my eye on things

Like you say you get a mix of staff, currently with nhs carers she has a mix of excellent and ok but the ok are often the most engaging and chat with her so she likes them

We’ve had carers in for DH.

The Asian men have been brilliant. The African women have been brilliant. The Eastern European women have been dreadful.

If it’s long term then you end up with the same cohort of people who know what is needed.