How many carers should their be to each Dementia patient?

[Charlyparly]

There isn’t a set ratio for staffing levels I’m afraid although I agree there should be and will sign the e-petition once I’ve posted this.

I do think it appalling that the manager asked you in for a face-to-face with the care staff and am tempted to think you should contact CQC with your concerns. You should be free to raise any / all issues as and when they arise and not have the worry of reprisals from staff who now know you’re the one to have flagged up concerns. That the manager would quite happily have you put right on the spot like that indicates she’s probably not the best or most experienced one there is.

 

[KatherineW]

I have sent a message to KatherineW to see if she might be able to help with this ,heres hoping

In case anyone's not spotted it, Tina T started a separate thread about the petition in our 'Raising Awareness and campaigning' forum last night.

http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/show...tition-to-establish-ratio-of-carers-residents

Best wishes,

 

[jude50]

signed and on my facebook page as well

Jude

 

[handyjack]

It is very sad that the CQC doesn't set minimum staffing levels. They refer to adequate or appropriate levels of staffing in care homes, but fall short of even mentioning suggested levels. In our care home we have a minimum 1 carer per 5 residents (during the day time). At night time however there are 3 carers and a nurse (quite usual to have less staff on at night time) . As well as this, we have several residents who require one to one care, for up to eleven hours per day, so there are always more staff than 1 per 5 residents.
One problem though is when staff themselves are ill or can't come to work for some other reason (probably all care homes have this problem). In this case we have some "bank" staff who can usually come in at short notice to cover.
I have signed the e-petition, as I do feel there should be minimum staffing levels set.

 

[outofmydepth]

In case anyone's not spotted it, Tina T started a separate thread about the petition in our 'Raising Awareness and campaigning' forum last night.

http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/show...tition-to-establish-ratio-of-carers-residents

Best wishes,

No I hadn't seen it but thank you for letting me know

 

[Padraig]

There is no standard answer. To provide the very best care it will depend on the 'stage' the patient has reached. 'Stages' are a generalisation and mean different things to different people. For me it's preferable to refer to the condition.

The stage referred to as the 'end stage', for me was the condition when my wife was bed ridden, no longer could speak and required turning at regular intervals. At that stage the patient requires 24/7 one to one care.

Moving back from 'end stage'; depending on the patient's condition the number of carers required would gradually decrease from 2 patents per carer, and so on, 3 to 1.

When patients can no longer feed themselves I found a ratio of four to one did not allow sufficient time to properly feed. There are many things wrong with the system.

When I removed my wife from a NH, I'll never forget the conversation that passed between our daughter and I: "Dad they're pleased to be rid of you and Mum". "Why?" "Because you spent 8-9 hrs each day with Mum and saw everything that went on."