Hi
@Lesley_A my mother in law had private carers for three years . My experience is that a care manager came out to assess my mother in law , I was present , to see what was needed. In my case, my mother in law was on her own in her own property and didn't want carers in the first place. As I had LPA over her finances I could sort out the payments with the agency direct and I made sure that mother in law never knew how much they cost. The agency wore uniforms and I wanted to know that they would wear them and some sort of ID when on their calls. You will need to tell them what you expect the carers to do for 2 hours. Do you want them to prompt medications ? or prepare meals or just sit and chat? Do light housework? You need to be clear as I suspect your mum won't have a clue especially if she is agitated.
You should get a written care plan , in my case it was all done on line via an app which mother in law didn't see. You also need to be upfront as to your mum's condition and how she may react with carers . If she is sundowning , they will need to know the best way to occupy her and I provided a list of her interests and dislikes . My mother in law didn't sundown initially so her carers were more for meal preparation, so others will be along soon with their experience of sundowning.