I'm new to this game, but my experience so far, of paying for carers either residential or home-visiting, is quite negative. Frankly, the help we have had hasn't been worth the money paid. I accept that the workers themselves are paid a minimum wage, so obviously the owners must be swanning around in Rolls Royces with Rolex watches.
In the last few weeks we've paid for an agency carer to come in and give mum a meal at lunchtimes on weekends. The very first one to call didn't know how to use a microwave and left a complete mess in the kitchen. Another did not know how to fry bacon and eggs. Yesterday's didn't know how to poach an egg. As a result, we are paying £15 a visit for her to be made a slice of toast, or offered cheese and crackers. It is a joke.
At Christmas, I booked her into a local old people's home for the week, in the hope that with her near me we could have a family Xmas. They wanted to charge us £850 for four days, even knowing that she wouldn't be there most of the time. Mum cut up about the cost so we cancelled in late October. Now they are dunning me for the full £850, saying they have to charge for the cancellation. I'm not paying.
Mum's moving near me in a few weeks time, and after she's done so, we'll avoid using the agencies and homes for as long as we can. I'm happy to pay for mum's care, but I'm not keen on subsidising either the lifestyles of entrepreneurs, or subsidising local authority care places.
In the last few weeks we've paid for an agency carer to come in and give mum a meal at lunchtimes on weekends. The very first one to call didn't know how to use a microwave and left a complete mess in the kitchen. Another did not know how to fry bacon and eggs. Yesterday's didn't know how to poach an egg. As a result, we are paying £15 a visit for her to be made a slice of toast, or offered cheese and crackers. It is a joke.
At Christmas, I booked her into a local old people's home for the week, in the hope that with her near me we could have a family Xmas. They wanted to charge us £850 for four days, even knowing that she wouldn't be there most of the time. Mum cut up about the cost so we cancelled in late October. Now they are dunning me for the full £850, saying they have to charge for the cancellation. I'm not paying.
Mum's moving near me in a few weeks time, and after she's done so, we'll avoid using the agencies and homes for as long as we can. I'm happy to pay for mum's care, but I'm not keen on subsidising either the lifestyles of entrepreneurs, or subsidising local authority care places.