http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5474275/No-wonder-care-workers-dont-care.html

[Saffie]

Worrying but I suspect nothing we weren’t already aware of.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5474275/No-wonder-care-workers-dont-care.html

 

[marionq]

Glasgow City Council told their carers in the daycentres they would not be paid for the three days of snow last week when the country as at a standstill. I contacted all appropriate people and the union was in meetings with them. I am now told the e mployers have backtracked but it should never have happened.

 

[Marnie63]

Dreadful, but unsurprising. I've even lost faith in mum's agency, which has been very good to date and which I have often praised on TP. They expect me to pay £5 a month (on top of the £1k plus which I pay them monthly for mum's care) to view their new on line care system. If I wasn't so reliant on them, I would have told them to stick it .... Fortunately they still send out the weekly schedule by email. But, if I wanted to view mum's care notes ... I would have to pay an extra £5 a month to subscribe to the system! The fact that they even think this is OK made my blood boil. I have also recently discovered that the smart, suitably logoed, uniforms that the carers wear, which I thought were generously provided for them by the agency, have to be purchased by the carers. I also hear grumblings from the carers on a regular basis on how they are treated. So, even a good care agency seems to treat staff no better.

I'll be glad of the day when I have to have no more dealings with such organisations, and the 'hoards' in my home, thought sadly I will have to lose mum first in order to get there ...

 

[Marnie63]

@Carmar - what bothers me is that there seems to be a sense of 'arrogance' seeping in to the relationship I have with the agency. That can't be right. Sadly, I am their 'captive customer' as they know I won't change agency due to the suitable carers they can provide for mum!

 

[marionq]

I took to the Americanism “kick ass” because it describes just how you feel when outraged by the behaviour of others when you are trying to keep your head above water.

Never been violent in my life but like you and others on TP @Carmar I feel nowadays I need to be prepared to do battle.

 

[Lawson58]

@Marnie63, sadly, in this world there will always be someone profiting from the vulnerable. When looked at from the opposite side it could be considered meeting a need, but there should be a line drawn somewhere when you are a captive audience or customer.

And that's what it gets down to - that all important bottom line.

There are lots of jobs that I would never want to do - paramedic, policeman, nurse, carer etc. and I think there are a lot of people who think the same. Why is it that they have to fight to get paid a wage that truly reflects the value of their work?

I can earn more per hour babysitting than some carers are paid.

 

[Saffie]

It's interesting that you should use the word 'arrogance' @Marnie63. During a phone call to Mum's agency on the particular fateful day, the Manager told me that Mum and I were not entitled to the same rights as other people on their books because Mum was Local Authority funded and not paying privately for her care. In fact, they told me, SS had begged them to take Mum on. These are direct quotes of the conversation. No-one, but no-one tells me my loving and sweet little Mum does not have the same human rights as other people because she is poor (or for any other reason). I sacked the agency on the spot and then wrote a formal complaint to the owner of the agency and to SS about them. Of course ultimately, I was the person who paid, because I was back looking after my Mum completely alone 24/7 for the next 6 months. SS were unable to find another care agency until just a few weeks ago, by which time I was at breaking point. I would do the same again tomorrow. I am woman, hear me roar (when it comes to my Mum!)!

That is appalling and discriminating. LA Adult services should have stopped using this company immediately. I suppose the problem would be finding others to take its place.
My husband was both self-funding and eventually LA supplemented - though not by very much - in his nursing home and the carers there had no knowledge, nor I suspect interest, in who was self or LA funded.
It was a lovely, though not luxurious, modern home owned by the LA and, apart from a couple, I couldn’t fault their care though it wasn’t always perfect due to demands and limited staffing etc - the usual things we know about here and they rarely had time to stop and exchange a few words though it was the nursing wing so a number of residents were bed-bound or very near it as was my husband.
Every article like this that I read challenges my faith in my husband’s care and whether things were as ok as I thought.

 

[nae sporran]

I think the majority of carers from all four agencies we have had have all cared about the people they are looking after. It's the minority for whom it's just a job and the mangers who mess them around while treating complaints with disdain who ruin their reputation.

 

[SnowWhite]

mum had home careworkers every morning for several months before she went into a care home. She paid about £17 an hour. It was only a small, local agency and most of the girls were nice and friendly. There was one who used to come in from the pouring rain and walk right through the house and up the stairs in her wet shoes and mum hated that.

At Mums care home the girls were on minimum wage and had to buy their own uniforms and pay for their DBS check which I thought was disgusting. Meanwhile the owner used to drive a top of the range car, wore designer clothes and bags and was always talking about her recent holidays to India. It is no wonder that care homes can only get inexperienced workers if they pay minimum wage. Theres a woman in our village who nobody has a good word about because she is a nasty, troublemaker who is really spiteful and she got a job at Mums old care home no trouble with no experience whatsoever.

 

[Saffie]

mum had home careworkers every morning for several months before she went into a care home. She paid about £17 an hour. It was only a small, local agency and most of the girls were nice and friendly. There was one who used to come in from the pouring rain and walk right through the house and up the stairs in her wet shoes and mum hated that.

At Mums care home the girls were on minimum wage and had to buy their own uniforms and pay for their DBS check which I thought was disgusting. Meanwhile the owner used to drive a top of the range car, wore designer clothes and bags and was always talking about her recent holidays to India. It is no wonder that care homes can only get inexperienced workers if they pay minimum wage. Theres a woman in our village who nobody has a good word about because she is a nasty, troublemaker who is really spiteful and she got a job at Mums old care home no trouble with no experience whatsoever.

My main reassurance with my husband’s NH was that it wasn’t led by profit and if there was the slightest problem we were able to contact the LA Adult Services who would launch an immediate investigation. There were funding issues of course because it had to tie in with LA budgets but I think their standards seeme quite high in general. As for individual carers, a number has been there for years, some even moving from the previous home building to this new one some years ago.
Some were from other countries, others were local but all seemed to care, some more than others of course which will always be the case. Like the man who used to sing to Dave when he was having personal care to which he could sometimes be resisitant because he knew Dave loved music and singing. With time constraints it wasn’t easy though so not much time for one to one chats with residents on that particular wing but the three activities ladies did do their best to help.
I went daily but of course didn’t see everything but I really hope and pray I was right to put my trust in the home.

 

[Saffie]

I'm sure everything was fine @Saffie and I do hope nothing being posted is making you doubt your decisions in any way. It is home care agencies being discussed here that are the issue not the carers themselves or the actual care they provide. Carers who work in residential homes are usually salaried with holiday and sickness pay. That is why so many carers try to find jobs in care homes rather than providing care at home where they are only on zero hour contracts by the agencies. The employment terms and conditions for hospital care workers and residential home care workers are completely different. I'm sure if it felt right to you, it was.

Thank you Carmar. Yes, I realise this article is about care at home but there are plenty of others about care and nursing homes and every time it raises the same doubts. We can only do the best we can and address any issues we come across. Without trust and faith in people’s innate compassion we are lost.
I see we share a vague location. I hope you are happy with the home in which your mother is now a resident and that she is happy there too. x

 

[Loopiloo]

Deleted. Problems prevented me getting my post send to this thread.
Loo

 

[Saffie]

Deleted. Problems prevented me getting my post send to this thread.
Loo

Hope you’re ok Loo. No idea why you had problems. x

 

[Loopiloo]

@Saffie. Thanks Saffie, I am as ok as I can be and better than recently, rather vile for a few days. The problem was I couldn't get my post to post on this thread. Will see if this one does.
Love as always
Loo xxx