Living abroad: concerned about quality of care

[rs84]

Hi group,
Please see previous posts for a bit of background.
I do not want to reveal too much as these posts are accessible by Google searches.
To cut a long story short - I have had to move abroad. I have POA for my mother.
Before I moved, I informed SS that I can no longer look after her. I was mentally and physically 'finished'.
SS came and did an assessment and decided that my mother is well enough to stay at home. Only if the situation worsens, then they will considering moving her into 24 hour care. SS informed me I am free to move out.

The home care agency that supplies carers are incompetent in my opinion. The manager of said home care agency keeps contacting me for the littlest of things, when in my opinion she should be taking care of that stuff.
She also contacted me stating that the toilet in the bathroom didn't flush- this was caused by the carers pressing the handle so hard that the threaded nut inside the cistern loosened and needed tightening. I knew this because it had happened before.

The manager contacted me asking if I knew a plumber. Should she be contacting me about this? Surely common sense should prevail and it's the home care agency that should be contacting plumbers?? I can understand if something major happened, but for something as minor as that they should be sorting it and not bothering me.

I would like to know where I stand on this. I would be grateful for any advice.

 

[dq79]

Hi, sounds a bit out of the remit of the care agency to be fair unless it's definitively caused by the carers... Things go awry in houses irrespective (I say this with my loved one's fallen down curtain bracket in my bag ready to sort with the help of a handyman or family member lol). unless there's a pre-existing arrangement with the agency to oversee general household maintenance and tasks I wouldn't have thought it would be for the agency. Perhaps an arrangement could be made via the LPA with a local handyman or firm whom the care agency can call on? Just ideas...

 

[My Mum's Daughter]

It depends on what's in your contract with the care agency. Does it include household maintenance and if so, do they have access to the funds to pay the plumber?

You should be pleased that the agency is in regular contact with you as it shows that they care about your Mum but if you don't want to be bothered, just tell them.

 

[Rosettastone57]

When my mother in law had carers, the agency weren't expected to deal with household maintenance. In fact it was quite clear in their terms and conditions what they would deal with. As attorney my husband was expected to sort out house maintenance as he had access to her funds

 

[canary]

We have carers coming in and house maintenance is not something that the care agency is expected to deal with. Normally if there is a problem with house the agency would contact the family member/POA/deputy to organise repair. If you dont want to be involved you can contact SS and they can apply for deputyship

 

[Violet Jane]

I wouldn’t expect a care agency to deal with problems in the house or the garden, whether that’s repairs or the replacement of items. That’s down to you, I’m afraid. It can be a massive problem when you’re trying to deal with these things from a distance.

 

[rs84]

Hi, sounds a bit out of the remit of the care agency to be fair unless it's definitively caused by the carers... Things go awry in houses irrespective (I say this with my loved one's fallen down curtain bracket in my bag ready to sort with the help of a handyman or family member lol). unless there's a pre-existing arrangement with the agency to oversee general household maintenance and tasks I wouldn't have thought it would be for the agency. Perhaps an arrangement could be made via the LPA with a local handyman or firm whom the care agency can call on? Just ideas...

Thank you for your reply. There's no denying that things do go wrong in a house, I just feel that it would be more appropriate for the care agency to make arrangements for these minor matters (usually they do know someone) and I would be more than happy to pay whatever the bill is.

 

[rs84]

I wouldn’t expect a care agency to deal with problems in the house or the garden, whether that’s repairs or the replacement of items. That’s down to you, I’m afraid. It can be a massive problem when you’re trying to deal with these things from a distance.

Very true. Unfortunately that's the problem. In my opinion the carers are very negligent with the way they use certain things (they even leave bathroom taps for example) but to break a toilet flush takes some doing.

 

[rs84]

We have carers coming in and house maintenance is not something that the care agency is expected to deal with. Normally if there is a problem with house the agency would contact the family member/POA/deputy to organise repair. If you dont want to be involved you can contact SS and they can apply for deputyship

That's interesting. Do you know the process?

 

[Jessbow]

I was more than pleased the other day when Mother in law light bulb went, carer happily changed it, but at the time I remember thinking how Kind of him, beyond what I would have expected.

I was again delighted when a carer set the washing machine to go with load of soiled bedding- beyond my expectation of them

I would never i a million years expect them to engage tradesmen- how would they know you'd pay the bill?

 

[My Mum's Daughter]

Let her social services and the care agency know and then follow the instructions on this link. You may also wish to think about declining anything that your mother may have left you in her will.

Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney

How to make a lasting power of attorney (LPA): starting an application online, choosing an attorney, certifying a copy, changing an LPA.

www.gov.uk

 

[dq79]

Thank you for your reply. There's no denying that things do go wrong in a house, I just feel that it would be more appropriate for the care agency to make arrangements for these minor matters (usually they do know someone) and I would be more than happy to pay whatever the bill is.

Hi again, most domiciliary care agencies are unlikely to have the time - or would be unwilling - to take those tasks on in my own experience. My relative's carers have done the odd thing such as calling to the shop to get emergency milk (don't ask) to save my loved one's distress whilst I was miles away at work as a one-off but in the event of a domestic mishap it would be me they would call to sort it out, which is absolutely fair enough. In the event of minor domestic issues and repairs if there's no family or support network they'd be more likely to contact social services who may then put the homeowner / LPA for example, in touch with services who could assist e.g. Age UK or contact details of local trusted contractors.

 

[northumbrian_k]

Apportioning blame without direct evidence isn't conducive to goodwill or a relationship with the care agency where it would even consider fixing things. The carers are employed to help the person not to see to minor repairs, however they have been caused. In our house I know what caused the blocked toilet and flooded bathroom. It's name was Dementia.

 

[Violet Jane]

I said to my husband more than once, a propos of both my mother and an elderly friend whom I supported: 'it's the house that defeats you in the end'. Carers deal with personal care and some will go shopping and clean but they can't deal with the house itself. Things break or stop working, repairs are needed and people have to come and do things in the house e.g. service the boiler, remove a wasps nest. The carers can't deal with these things. This is when a helpful neighbour can come in handy but you mustn't exploit his/her good nature. A related problem is that you don't know any reliable tradesmen if you don't live locally.

 

[Aquamoon]

My mum had carers coming in 4 times a day.I was 400 miles away and had POA for health and finance.Whenever there was a problem with the house the carers would ring me and I would arrange for the problems to be sorted.eg blocked toilet due to my mum putting pads down it.They kindly replaced light bulbs although it wasn't in their remit.I was told that social services had POA for one old man with no family and they arranged any maintenance and repairs as they had access to his funds.