National care franchise let us down now we can't find carers

[la lucia]

My mother had a stroke and we started to use carers from a well-known franchise to get her up in the morning while I do everything else. The carers were mostly good but the office was useless, constant staff turnover, very inexperienced staff.

They tried to charge us the full amount when my mother went to Respite but they don't give it to the carers. Their T&Cs say 14 days Respite is not chargeable so we offered a retainer which they didn't like. They were ignoring emails and only replying at 5pm Friday.......

We're self-funding but via the LA and the LA agreed this was not appropriate and as the LA commissioned the care, they took it up with the franchise.

Then over a month after we'd given them the dates, and just 48 hours before I was leaving the country, they told us we'd have to reapply for the package after the Respite was finished because they'd "just discovered" one of the principle carers was moving house.

We'd known this for 4 months as the carer told us and the company. So it was nonsense.

Fast forward, new care company, all good except the timings were too late but we accepted them to get a foot in the door. Then my mum had another fall and back in to hospital where she is now. We lost the carers.

She's ready to come home but we can't find any carers for the mornings before 10am... Then same well-known franchise bid for the commission via the LA. I didn't want them but beggars can't be choosers so I said yes and they agreed to start November 1st.

Then once again, 2 days before the weekend, and after my mother stayed in hospital an extra week to fit their timing, they dumped us again.

I don't know what to do to find carers. There's a shortage of staff and now the LA are suggesting that I advertise and employ my own. I just don't need this on top of everything else I'm pushed to the limits.

With the LA's encouragement, I am going to report the famous franchise (which made a 4 milllion quid + profit last year) to the CQC but that doesn't help me find carers or allow my poor mum to come home.

Does anyone have any ideas as to where I can find carers? Our local classified ads are useless so no point advertising there and we live in a village.

I wouldn't even know what to do although the LA said there's a company to handle the payroll.... it's doing my head in

I feel so defeated, I can (mostly) manage my mum's care it's all the endless bureaucracy and hassle with the rest that exhausts me.

 

[chick1962]

Hello la Lucia have you got Crossroads where you are? They are a charity but take self funders too. I found them really good x


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[la lucia]

Hello la Lucia have you got Crossroads where you are? They are a charity but take self funders too. I found them really good x


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I just phoned them (after I read your post) in the nearest district and they said they don't arrange care they only support unpaid carers in their specific district. But thanks for the thought.

 

[la lucia]

There's a C dot com website that has one possible carer but they want £30 to reveal the phone number....... Im going to need more than one to cover days off so not keen on ripping up 30 quid for that... (and it's auto renew on your card...)

 

[chick1962]

There's a C dot com website that has one possible carer but they want £30 to reveal the phone number....... Im going to need more than one to cover days off so not keen on ripping up 30 quid for that... (and it's auto renew on your card...)

Sorry my lovely , I know of certain carers that pay for Crossroads . Have you got nurse plus ? That's another one I heard of but I have not used them? Don't pay 30 pounds up front as that does not sound right xx


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[la lucia]

Sorry my lovely , I know of certain carers that pay for Crossroads . Have you got nurse plus ? That's another one I heard of but I have not used them? Don't pay 30 pounds up front as that does not sound right xx


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Thank you There's a NPlus in the nearby town but they don't cover our area.

I'm terrified that if this continues the authorities will try and fob mum off into a care home. This has happened to the lady in the next bed who has been trying to organise care at home for 6 weeks and she doesn't even have dementia but her mobility is impaired.

I'm awaiting one call back from an agency that is REALLY expensive but they are also not sure if they have the staff....

 

[Rodelinda]

It's stressful enough without having to fight officialdom! We live in a small village. I contacted Age UK locally, asked for their lists of people (I was actually looking for a hairdresser for my mother at the time). What came back included lots of small independent agencies and individuals/collectives who offered care workers and all sorts of other services. I'm using one from the list and they're fantastic, reliable and extremely good value and great. I think Age UK do some vetting of who they put on their lists (at least round here). So it might be worth checking. Best of luck. Sue

 

[Marnie63]

La Lucia - I don't know where you are located, and I guess the chances of you living in my area (North Hampshire) are pretty slim, but I have an excellent, family owned agency who have supported my mum for nearly a year. If by any chance you are anywhere near, pm me for details. As I say, chances are you are hundreds of miles away, but ... thought I'd offer it - and to anyone else for that matter if you are local. I found them by chance really, before any of this dementia reared its ugly features with mum, but they have supported me enormously. I think small, independent agencies are probably much easier to deal with/want to do a good job, if you have any where you are? Do you have a local carer support group/contact who could advise? Princess Royal Trust for Carers/Alzhermer's Society helpline maybe? Local Alzheimer's support group? There must be someone who can help. I do hope you manage to sort something for your mum.

PS - how was your holiday?

 

[Slugsta]

I am sorry you are in this situation - you must be tearing your hair with worry!#

Is there a carers' cafe local to you? I'm told the people there can offer lots of information about local services, including care agencies.

 

[la lucia]

OK I called the local Age UK (thanks Sue) but the call was diverted to the National switchboard who knew nothing. I'll try again Monday but the 'support' lists on their website are fairly useless.

The problem is that we are rural in the South West and resources seem to be targeted on the cities. Or, if they're nearby but in another council region that gives them funds (our nearest Age UK for instance,) they can't help anyone except people in that borough.

We have endless charities/NGOs but most do nothing except 'advocacy' or 'advice' which is endlessly repetitive. None of them actually DO anything.

I will try the local Dementia Cafe (thank you Slugsta) and of course I will fight to prevent my mum getting shifted to a care home if I can. I've tried to keep a tight watch on my mum's money so that it lasts to the end and apart from the fact that she would not like a care home it would eat so much money from her small reserves.

Basically, this is a problem that's going to get worse - there's a shortage of care staff. Previously, many local care homes were run by the local authority and staff could back up their domiciliary care hours with days working in the care home. A much more attractive option when you need a secure income. That's all gone now.

This means that the local agencies have clients over a barrel.. Yesterday I bit the bullet and called the last option, a hugely expensive agency with a minimum fixed hours policy (and a good reputation) and despite promising, they didn't bother to call me back.

Marnie, thanks but I'm not near you unfortunately and I can't seem to find a way of accessing independent care staff. Our county council was 'supposed' to be organising a 'bank' but predictably the website is blank and nothing is happening....

My holiday was fab but organising mum's respite care was a nightmare and while the quality was not bad it wasn't great either...

I was shocked at how tired I was when I got to Spain and could barely move the first few days. And, she who thinks like a hyperactive teenager had to then drive over a thousand miles through mountains. It was gorgeous and I didn't see one single foreign tourist the whole time but I only managed it because midway I stayed in the most divine location imaginable. And did nothing except gaze in awe at the views from the Moorish fortress and garden that was home for the night!

By day 3 of driving I was hallucinating extra white lines on the autovía on the way to my sister's. Luckily I didn't have to do anything when I got to her house except swim and read. Thanks sis!

The drive back south was a doddle after a rest and I hopped round the coast stopping for sleep and a swim en route. I ended up on the Granada coast which is national park and heaven.

I had some really interesting conversations with Spaniards I met on my travels about how care homes are developing in Spain. I heard some good reports.

Anyway, sadly the minute I got back, I caught the flu bug from hell. Then my mother had her fall and broke her hip and we lost our care contract. It's such a drag because at 96 she handled the surgery very well and it had minimal impact because they didn't use anaesthetic. But if she stays in hospital much longer she will go down hill.....

So back to my search for morning carers.......

Thanks everyone.... you all rock and I don't know what I would do if I didn't have this space to moan and ask for advice.

 

[AlsoConfused]

Can't help but - Hugs (careful ones).

 

[Slugsta]

I feel your pain!

We live in a big conurbation but it still took weeks for SS to 'broker' a care package for Mum with a local agency. Finding anyone who could do a morning call at a 'reasonable' time was the problem. Mum is up and about by 6.30 so, while I don't expect anyone to be there that early, the offer of a 10.00 visit was no use to us at all. We got it sorted eventually with a compromise morning visit at 7.45.

It must be so much harder for anyone in a less densely populated area

 

[Risa]

Have you tried contacting local daycare or care homes to see if they know of anyone? We tried (unsuccessfully) to get Mum into daycare. They couldn't let Mum stay as it wasn't secure and she just walked out. However it wasn't a complete waste as they gave us the name of a lady who was looking for more hours as a carer. So far things are working out with her looking after Mum for a few hours a week. Might be worth a shot as somebody might know somebody?

 

[la lucia]

I feel your pain!

We live in a big conurbation but it still took weeks for SS to 'broker' a care package for Mum with a local agency. Finding anyone who could do a morning call at a 'reasonable' time was the problem. Mum is up and about by 6.30 so, while I don't expect anyone to be there that early, the offer of a 10.00 visit was no use to us at all. We got it sorted eventually with a compromise morning visit at 7.45.

It must be so much harder for anyone in a less densely populated area

That's exactly what is happening with us. One package offered for 10am. I said no..... I'm so grateful that so far we are not state funded because they would have forced us to accept it.

No one who is doubly incontinent should be forced to stay in bed until 10am

I've requested anytime between 7 and 8.30 except daycare days when 8 is the latest acceptable.

I can request all I like.... there's zilch

 

[la lucia]

Have you tried contacting local daycare or care homes to see if they know of anyone? We tried (unsuccessfully) to get Mum into daycare. They couldn't let Mum stay as it wasn't secure and she just walked out. However it wasn't a complete waste as they gave us the name of a lady who was looking for more hours as a carer. So far things are working out with her looking after Mum for a few hours a week. Might be worth a shot as somebody might know somebody?

Risa, thanks for that I hadn't thought of it and it's definitely worth a try. I am also going to advertise in a local community centre that has a cafe and multiple activities including a Memory Cafe. I will try ringing around care homes too now, next week.

What is needed is a new model of care. (This is how I occupy myself when my mother keeps me awake at night ☺)

Imagine..... a purpose built daycare and respite centre, that offers domiciliary care and where the staff can move between the three so they can make up their hours if they wish. You could also offer training courses for outsiders.. Run it as a collective/cooperative with any profits going back into the business .

Dream on.....

 

[la lucia]

So, still no care package and now there's muttering about putting my mother in a care home "temporarily"......

No, no, NO, I said, there's only one decent care home in our area and it's EMI nursing which she doesn't need. She can't go there and anyway it's full.

Putting my mother in a care home won't be "temporary" it'll be the beginning of the end. I'm not stupid..... we'll never get a care package if she goes in a home because the health and local authorities will always gazump us for people in hospital at the time they find carers. And carers are like gold dust here....

So questions folks:

1) We're self-funding can they force mum into a home when it's not necessary except she is ready to leave hospital? We only need a half hour package a day and I even offered to pay for an hour.

2) Will we have to pay for it if they do force her out?

I'd argue it's not in mum's best interests. The care homes round here are the Karaoke and park them in a huge lounge type. She had respite in one and had a fall which resulted in the paramedics (rightly) reporting the home to safe-guarding.....

She's happy at home and I manage fine specially since she was prescribed Mirtazapine to stop her night time wondering. She's still included in village life, she loves her garden and her home.

Can they really do this to her just because their own systems fail? Can they do this just because they can't source a measly half hour a day of domiciliary care?

Aaaargh, I'm furious with the idiots that shoved a political wrecking ball into a local authority run care system that worked well until it was privatised ......

 

[Tara62]

Our local classified ads are useless so no point advertising there

Yes, I agree about the classifieds (I assume you mean the local newspaper). I put one in our local paper when I was looking for carers, and I didn't get a single response.

I also tried an ad on Gumtree, but that only produced people from far too far out of the local area. Asking all the local church groups if they knew anyone didn't work, either.

What did work - really well- for me was putting ads around in lots of local shop windows. I found my carers that way, and they were all people with proper training who had a lot of experience of care work.

As someone who has in the past used agency carers and has had a lot of problems with that system, I can't recommend finding your own non-agency carers highly enough. It has worked out really well for me - and I also like the fact that my father's carers get all the money, because non is creamed off by an agency.

I didn't really believe that ads in the windows of shops would produce such a great response, but they did.

What I also found, when one of first carers left, was that professional carers tend to know other professional carers. I didn't have to advertise the second time I was looking for people, as one of the carers I had already introduced me to two of the people she knew from doing care work for the local council.

 

[Kevinl]

Aaaargh, I'm furious with the idiots that shoved a political wrecking ball into a local authority run care system that worked well until it was privatised ......

When was that? You wouldn't want to go back to the past, in the 1970's and 80's my wife worked in a "geriatric" hospital for people with dementia, open ward, 15 beds each side and everyone sat in a chair next to their beds chemically coshed off the planet, it was a national disgrace.
Now my wife is in care (LA funded), she has a private room, en-suite, a staff ration of 3 or 4 to one (daytime), on site weekly hairdresser.
LA's still run children's homes and look what a great job many of them make of that.
K

 

[la lucia]

Thank you Tara that's exactly what I am trying to do now - adverts in the village shops and telling everyone I meet.... it's a slow process tho'

I think you are right about finding the carers who may know other carers so I am trying to track a few down.

 

[la lucia]

When was that? You wouldn't want to go back to the past, in the 1970's and 80's
K

He he, I'll admit to a smidgen of hyperbole in my annoyance but I wasn't going back THAT far. ☺

When my late father was needing a care home a few years back we still had a few LA care homes in this area. They were really good and in big demand and everyone was furious when they closed.

One of the local LA care homes also offered domiciliary care too. It meant the staff had salaries instead of Zero Hours Contracts.

Meanwhile, please can anyone respond to the 2 questions I asked please? I've called a couple of helplines and no-one really seems to know although I have one somewhat useful paper that at least gives an overview.