Care home struggling to keep staff

[ferniegirl]

Hi everyone, my 92 year old mum has been in her current care home on the dementia floor for 18 months and went in at a time when it seemed to be well run and the CQC report was good. Since then they have had three managers, one of which was extremely unpopular and lots of good staff left. This manager has now gone as there were complaints and the CQC inspected again and the home was found to be ‘inadequate’ on every level. A new manager is in place who seems to be determined to turn things around and for a few weeks there seemed to be more staff on the dementia floor and the staff seemed more cheerful. However in the last couple of weeks there seems to be a staff shortage again and the staff seem harrassed and fed up. As far as I can tell they are treating the residents well but I can see they are dashing from one person to the next and I have been told they are struggling with nights as ‘no-one wants to do it’.

I must stress that my mum is always clean and well dressed, well fed and is treated respectfully.

I am fed up of getting to know new staff, feeling they know mum and then finding out they have been moved to a different floor or have gone. My mum seems unaffected as she has no short-term memory and doesn’t recognise the staff that have been doing her personal care for months!

How worried should I be? I will of course speak to the manager but is this a common thing that care homes have trouble keeping staff and there is a high turnover? This is one of the newer, expensive, well-known ones by the way and I know this doesn’t always count for anything!

Your thoughts would be most appreciated.

 

[Shedrech]

hi ferniegirl
several comments in your post are heartening - that your mum is still being well cared for despite all the changes - so personally I'd have a chat with the new manager and start with that so the manager knows that you aren't making a complaint but you are aware of the staff changes and you are concerned
I know something not too dissimilar happened at dad's home when one manager seemed to disappear and another took over rather quietly but has put in some new procedures - some of the staff I had got to know well and who knew my dad well had left and I was concerned - however, new staff were taken on, things settled down, dad was well cared for and none the wiser
there is a core of staff who have been at dad's home for years - but there is also a steady change as some move to agency work for a change or their own circumstances altered eg one male carer became a dad and felt he just wasn't earning enough for his family (really sad as he was a good carer) or move on in their career eg one is training to be a nurse now - so staff changes don't have to be a negative
I hope things settle in your mum's home

 

[ferniegirl]

Thank you Shedrech for your reply which makes sense. I shall keep an eye on things

 

[SnowWhite]

Sadly too many homes are understaffed and however good the carers are, they don't allow them enough time to deal with residents so inevitably, corners are cut.

I recently met a Carer who,told me that at his workplace staff were allowed 5 minutes with each resident. He said it was impossible to get things completed in that time and he was often reprimanded for spending too long.

My Mum told me a similar story at her old Care home. They had a new carer one morning and Mum said she was lovely and friendly and caring. A couple of days later, she was with Mum in her room and the owner came in and pointed to her watch and said ...... you have nineteen other residents to see to and there is no way you will get round them all if you don't get a move on. The woman apologised and after that she was in a terrible hurry every day.

I would just quietly observe what's going on there but it does sound as though your Mum is OK just now.

 

[AitchM]

hi ferniegirl
several comments in your post are heartening - that your mum is still being well cared for despite all the changes - so personally I'd have a chat with the new manager and start with that so the manager knows that you aren't making a complaint but you are aware of the staff changes and you are concerned
I know something not too dissimilar happened at dad's home when one manager seemed to disappear and another took over rather quietly but has put in some new procedures - some of the staff I had got to know well and who knew my dad well had left and I was concerned - however, new staff were taken on, things settled down, dad was well cared for and none the wiser
there is a core of staff who have been at dad's home for years - but there is also a steady change as some move to agency work for a change or their own circumstances altered eg one male carer became a dad and felt he just wasn't earning enough for his family (really sad as he was a good carer) or move on in their career eg one is training to be a nurse now - so staff changes don't have to be a negative
I hope things settle in your mum's home

Hi, I have had very similar experiences with my parent's home and things settle back down nicely after a while. The main thing is that the care level continues and mum and dad don't notice the changes in staff like we do.