Home care: what is typical from private care companies?

[NotTerfNorCis]

Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone has any advice from experience?

Early last year, my dad had a couple of falls and was in hospital for three months. He had county council care workers at first, and they were great. After that, a social worker dug out a private care company for us. The service we got from them was very different.

Some of them have been very good - lovely people, genuinely caring. But others are not. I have a few concerns and am wondering if this is typical of what's available or if it's worth moving to another company. This has suddenly become more urgent as they're now saying he needs two carers per visit, but the visit tonight was a catastrophe. Three people turned up, all strangers, one a trainee. They were clueless and dangerous using the rotunda and commode chair; my dad said he was 'mauled' by them; he wanted to use the toilet but didn't want to with them all watching; they failed to put the 'heel boots' on that he needs; they didn't offer him any water despite the fact that we've told the company he's suffering from dehydration. It was lucky I was there to sort things out afterwards. And we'll be expected to pay double for this.

My question is, if we look for another company, are we likely to find anything better? Or is this typical of private care companies?

The concerns I have about this company are:

1. Employees work very long days. If we ask for three visits in one day, it's often the same person, day after day. They also have to travel long distances, as we are rural.

2. There is a language problem. They are almost all from Nigeria, and we struggle to communicate with them, which has caused problems in the past.

3. There have been issues of bad care, such as leaving urine-soaked bedding on the bed, or recently, hurting dad by mishandling the chair, crushing him against a wall.

But to repeat, some of the regular guys who turn up are good, if under obvious pressure to get the job done as quickly as possible.

Is it worth us looking for another company?

Definitely worth investigating the options but most if not all have the same issues of being short staffed, hiring from overseas and not sufficient time allowed.

Are you paying privately/managing budget from nhs or council? If so hiring carers privately is an alternative though comes with needing to manage payroll, holidays, sickness etc. I’ve done it and it’s not for the faint hearted but we had a team of 5 working overnight 9pm - 8am plus 2 daytime visits

Yes, there are some good companies. Also, put your concerns in writing and keep demanding high standards of care.

Thanks both. Yes, we are paying for it all - no help from the council/NHS.

This company is rated 'good' by the CQC but has terrible reviews on Google. I can see other companies in our area with excellent reviews - but at a higher cost.

I think we'll start ringing around on Monday. It would be encouraging to hear some good experiences of care companies. :)

Do talk to the other firms. We went with the one recommended by the GP - my brother talked to their facilitating / social care / whatever they call it person, who gave him a list and recommended this firm. He knew what questions to ask because of the GP chat.

They were great. There were a couple of issues with poor communication - not all the carers read the book, so they missed meds a few times, and some never read our own updates. We raised this when it happened, and it was clear they'd been reminded. They were all really, really nice though, and unquestionably cared about her welfare.

I think most people are reluctant to give bad reviews because of the difficulty of doing the job perfectly. If you see more than one or two and they are recent, steer clear!

If you see more than one or two and they are recent, steer clear!

The Google reviews are shocking, to be fair! Four are them are specifically about the carers' dangerous driving. One bloke has uploaded a photo of a damaged car!

😱

If you have Home Instead in your area you could speak to them. My family has used them in 3 different areas and they were excellent.

Can I jump on to ask what Home Instead charge and what their min visit time is? Hope that's not a derail!

Costs will depend on your location as well as the level and type of care provided - there are too many differentials - you're better off asking them directly: https://www.homeinstead.co.uk

Another recommendation for Home Instead. I think they do charge more than other agencies but in my DP’s region the visit is a full hour and it is a regular rotation of a few carers. My DP has had them for a few months now and I cannot fault them at all.

They are relatively expensive but you get what you pay for. It's been a few years now but yes, 1 hour minimum.
When I was first looking for a care agency I would ask the manager
whether carers are paid above minimum wage
whether carers are paid for travelling between clients
whether my relative would definitely see the same 2 or 3 people.

Those questions turned out to be a very helpful filter.

Being brutally honest I also insisted on fluency in English (for my very deaf elderly godfather) but I expect someone will be along to say that you can't do that kind of thing.

Thanks everyone - very helpful 🙂 🙂