Agency carer times

[mitz]

Hi,

Just wondered what others' experience is with agency carer times of calls.

We have just started with a new agency (we're social services not private) and when we joined we requested specific times eg 8:30am breakfast, 12:30/13:00 lunch, 5:30/6:00 and 8:00-8:30 bed. No one said thats a problem. So far breakfast and lunch fine but dinner has become 3:30pm and last night the bedtime carer turned up at 20 past 10. Our previous agency just changed mums bedtime to 7:30pm. It seems they take on new clients or clients fall away etc. And they shift everyone around.

Is all this normal practice? That the agency decide whatever times they like?

Thanks

 

[Beate]

They shouldn't. I was adamant that our times are adhered to for a reason. If the carer was late just ten minutes in the morning he would not be able to get OH up and ready in time for his transport bus to the Day Centre. The afternoon times also had to coincide with him returning from Day Centre. I had a carer replaced who was chronically late. You have to stand your ground.

 

[Rosettastone57]

Hi,

Just wondered what others' experience is with agency carer times of calls.

We have just started with a new agency (we're social services not private) and when we joined we requested specific times eg 8:30am breakfast, 12:30/13:00 lunch, 5:30/6:00 and 8:00-8:30 bed. No one said thats a problem. So far breakfast and lunch fine but dinner has become 3:30pm and last night the bedtime carer turned up at 20 past 10. Our previous agency just changed mums bedtime to 7:30pm. It seems they take on new clients or clients fall away etc. And they shift everyone around.

Is all this normal practice? That the agency decide whatever times they like?

Thanks

My mother-in-law is self funding and has never had social services involvement but even then with a private agency there are still always some problems. Just today I had to ring the agency to complain about the lunchtime call being moved from 1 to 2 p.m. this actually was resolved over the telephone and eventually someone was found to come half an hour early at 1:30. The difficulty with my mother-in-law is because she is semi rural there simply isn't the staff to cope if someone goes sick at short notice. But I agree the situation you find yourself in is unacceptable.
I had to complain after one carer on the lunchtime visit was coming in fact an hour earlier to suit her own needs so she could take her own mother to the hospital. This was actually resolved by the agency finding someone else to cover the call on that particular day on a regular basis. I put my foot down and said I didn't want that particular carer coming again. In my experience even with a private agency you have to be on top of it all the time

 

[mitz]

Thanks very much for feedback. The changing times and unpredictability has caused a lot of stress to Mum and to me and my sister. We are meeting with the new agency in Monday to finalise the care plan and, given your feedback, I shall certainly be politely firm. The change in agency has been very stressful and cost me a hell of a lot of time settling them in with Mum and I still don't trust the night carer enough to leave Mum overnight. So I would definitely want to avoid another change. On the plus side the day carer is

 

[Jessbow]

Problem is, everyone wants those times, and I cannot imagine any agency can guarrentee those times day in day out, unless its a dedicated carer.

From the other side, I have been a carer in the community.
out comes the rota
Lillians lunch 12-12.30
Ethels Lunch 12.30-1.00
Albert's lunch 1.00-1.30

|Thats great on paper, its 4 miles between Lillian and Ethels house, then 2 to Alberts. Oh , and Ethel is upset about the cat being missing.

Can see how times slide, cant you? believe me, its as frustrating for the carer as the client ( and its minimum wag for the 90 mins work, which actually takes 2hrs 15 mins

I hope you get some joy with the next agency

 

[mitz]

Problem is, everyone wants those times, and I cannot imagine any agency can guarrentee those times day in day out, unless its a dedicated carer.

From the other side, I have been a carer in the community.
out comes the rota
Lillians lunch 12-12.30
Ethels Lunch 12.30-1.00
Albert's lunch 1.00-1.30

|Thats great on paper, its 4 miles between Lillian and Ethels house, then 2 to Alberts. Oh , and Ethel is upset about the cat being missing.

Can see how times slide, cant you? believe me, its as frustrating for the carer as the client ( and its minimum wag for the 90 mins work, which actually takes 2hrs 15 mins

I hope you get some joy with the next agency

Hi,

Yes I can see how times can slide. But yes everyone does want those times. We've all been raised to eat at those times more or less but it seems to me the agencies are trying to get clients to adapt to their business model instead of building their business around what clients actually need. For example, in general, I don't know of many adults happy to be put to bed at 7:30pm. That's not fair. Also my Mum also has district nurses so they come in and disturb mum again when she's gone to bed. I don't think its right for the agency to lead the schedule without knowing anything about the client's need around bedtime. Mum's previous agency changed their times as they pleased which I feel is totally unfair to expect mum to just accept that constant change.

 

[Jessbow]

Not sure about the 'business model'
Another problem is keeping carers- if as a carer you only get 6 calls a day- 3 breakfasts and 3 lunches, because everyone wants between 7.30- 9 , and between 12 and 1, Carers just cannot earn enough to sustain themselves so they resign

It is a vicious circle

 

[mitz]

Not sure about the 'business model'
Another problem is keeping carers- if as a carer you only get 6 calls a day- 3 breakfasts and 3 lunches, because everyone wants between 7.30- 9 , and between 12 and 1, Carers just cannot earn enough to sustain themselves so they resign

It is a vicious circle

True true. Looking at it from a carers point of view I can see why they'd want a decent number of calls to make a living. Perhaps I shall be more conversationalist than demanding or a balance when we meet with the agency on Monday. I've valued your input. Thanks.

 

[Rosettastone57]

True true. Looking at it from a carers point of view I can see why they'd want a decent number of calls to make a living. Perhaps I shall be more conversationalist than demanding or a balance when we meet with the agency on Monday. I've valued your input. Thanks.

With my mother-in-law I don't know if it's the same with you I get her roster sent to me in advance with the times and names of the anticipated carers. This enables me to sort out any changes needed. I get a weeks roster in advance. Something that might help with future planning. If the carers are going to be late the agency will phone me on the day.

 

[Sam Luvit]

Mum had rehab Carer visits after being discharged from hospital, SS have assessed & say she needs on going care (self funded) & found an agency that said they could cover the calls. It took 3.5 weeks for them to find one, so I assumed the agency had agreed they could cover the calls.

When the agency came out, they said no problem with the times, Mum wants a morning call at 09.30 & an evening call between 19.30 & 20.00. We said no calls between 19.00 & 19.30. 80% of evening calls are between 19.00 & 19.30 despite repeated contact.

The carers tell me the times Mum wants should be easy to cover as they are not in the core busy periods. I’m fed up of telling them. I’m sure the carers are fed up with both Mum & myself moaning. It’s not fair on the carers or Mum.

If you find a solution, please share so I can follow your lead.

 

[mitz]

With my mother-in-law I don't know if it's the same with you I get her roster sent to me in advance with the times and names of the anticipated carers. This enables me to sort out any changes needed. I get a weeks roster in advance. Something that might help with future planning. If the carers are going to be late the agency will phone me on the day.

That would be tremendously helpful actually. I can ask them if that's something they can provide me with. Then we don't have to be reactive all the time. Whew that would make a difference. Its the not knowing whos going to turn up when thats so stressful. You always worry that they're not going to turn up if they're late. Which is what happened three times with the last agency. Thanks.

 

[mitz]

Mum had rehab Carer visits after being discharged from hospital, SS have assessed & say she needs on going care (self funded) & found an agency that said they could cover the calls. It took 3.5 weeks for them to find one, so I assumed the agency had agreed they could cover the calls.

When the agency came out, they said no problem with the times, Mum wants a morning call at 09.30 & an evening call between 19.30 & 20.00. We said no calls between 19.00 & 19.30. 80% of evening calls are between 19.00 & 19.30 despite repeated contact.

The carers tell me the times Mum wants should be easy to cover as they are not in the core busy periods. I’m fed up of telling them. I’m sure the carers are fed up with both Mum & myself moaning. It’s not fair on the carers or Mum.

If you find a solution, please share so I can follow your lead.

That's a real pain. We so want to be able to trust and relax don't we but the agencies can cause so much stress. Surely they must be aware. I will certainly let you know how we get on.

 

[Rosettastone57]

That would be tremendously helpful actually. I can ask them if that's something they can provide me with. Then we don't have to be reactive all the time. Whew that would make a difference. Its the not knowing whos going to turn up when thats so stressful. You always worry that they're not going to turn up if they're late. Which is what happened three times with the last agency. Thanks.

Bear in mind that my mother-in-law is self funding so whether it's an arrangement because it's something that is provided because she's paying I'm not sure. The agency we use signed up to an app which I have downloaded onto my smartphone. All the carers write on their phones in the app rather than in a book which is transferable to me so I can see almost live what is going on. I can then post messages via the app or I have a dedicated email to the agency which I can also use. As my mother-in-law doesn't live with us we find this very useful. I'm not sure if you're using your agency via social services what systems obviously they may have in place. The agency also provide a manager's care review every 6 months to sort out any problems

 

[Sam Luvit]

Thank you @mitz the agency have repeatedly promised to send the rota out, but when I moaned at them this morning, they confirmed my email (correct), then said they wouId put the tick in the box .... maybe that will help

Mum is self funding, but it’s arranged though SS, it shouldn’t make a difference. I will try finding their web site & see if their “Mission Statement” says anything about treating clients with respect, or some such like blurb. Sometimes it helps to quote such things back at them.

I’ll try anything at the moment.

 

[mitz]

Thank you @mitz the agency have repeatedly promised to send the rota out, but when I moaned at them this morning, they confirmed my email (correct), then said they wouId put the tick in the box .... maybe that will help

Mum is self funding, but it’s arranged though SS, it shouldn’t make a difference. I will try finding their web site & see if their “Mission Statement” says anything about treating clients with respect, or some such like blurb. Sometimes it helps to quote such things back at them.

I’ll try anything at the moment.

That's another good idea in prep for our meeting with the agency on Monday. Familiarise ourselves with what they say about their service and mission statement. So we can show we understand what we can expect from them.

 

[elvismad]

I have been very fortunate with the private carers we have arranged to take mum to her clubs 3 x a week. For the most part mum has the same lovely lady each time and she is punctual, caring and most of all, mum loves her. I keep in regular contact with the care company and they are most accommodating. The shortest visit is 2 hours. The longest is 4 hours and the visits start 12.30/1pm depending on the day/club. I did have issues with the LA funded care agency before mum moved into assisted living. Not so much times, but standards of care and agreed care plan. We had to insist one particular carer was not sent again as she was consistently failing to follow the care plan. Others however we very kind and caring despite being extremely rushed and mum was all the better for having someone to help her in the mornings and with medication. I guess I can see it from both sides. I must admit, it's not a job i could do and I am eternally grateful to those that can.

 

[Sirena]

My mother had self-funded care at home for 18 months, starting with 9-1 in the morning, then with an added two hours in the evening. I am only aware of them once being more than a few minutes late/early. Every Friday eveningthe scheduler emailed me the rota for the following week (my mother had four regular carers, they were very good at 'matching' her with carers she liked). I suspect they were paid more than SS carers, and having longer visits probably made it easier to be punctual as there were not so many 'in between' times with carers rushing from one job to the next. The care director also carried out a service review every 6 months. I found the agency myself, not via SS.