Make a law for the ration of staff per resident in a dementia care home

[JaneStreet]

I have started a petition in the hope that I can change how care homes are run. This is something that will affect many of us and has already had a big impact on my parents lives and mine.
Many of the problems we encounter with people with dementia can be solved by having more staff and more training
If you can would you sign my petition and please share it with as many people as you can.
Thank you
Karen
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/166983

 

[Kevinl]

Where is the petition so I can sign it?
That said I've no complaints, 32 bed unit (when full) as usual today, 8 carers, one staff nurse and one sister one an RMN the other SRN and the usual; office staff, kitchen staff, laundry staff, cleaners and maintenance men/gardeners.
What would people deem an acceptable ratio day and night?
K

 

[JaneStreet]

Where is the petition so I can sign it?
That said I've no complaints, 32 bed unit (when full) as usual today, 8 carers, one staff nurse and one sister one an RMN the other SRN and the usual; office staff, kitchen staff, laundry staff, cleaners and maintenance men/gardeners.
What would people deem an acceptable ratio day and night?
K

Thank you for pointing that out - I've included it in the original post. I'm talking about 14 to 16 residents - two staff - occasionally three, one only at night .
Your home seems to have 1 to 4 which would seem OK

 

[JaneStreet]

It seems I can't submit the link - not sure why?

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/166983

 

[JaneStreet]

there we go!!

 

[Linbrusco]

to compare to another country, New Zealand, my Mums Care Home, which has 38 residents split into two wings of 20/18, has a Unit Co Ordinator during the day, and Charge Clinical Nurse 5-6 days a week depending.
On each wing they have an RN at all times, 4 carers per day, and 3 carers at night, who can go between the two units.
During the day they have a diversional therapist, who often helps out as a carer in between. Plus cleaning staff.

Still, they always seem busy and short staffed.

 

[Toddleo]

Signed.

 

[Jessbow]

Thank you for pointing that out - I've included it in the original post. I'm talking about 14 to 16 residents - two staff - occasionally three, one only at night .
Your home seems to have 1 to 4 which would seem OK

I cannot imagine one at night is legal, what would happen if That carer became unwell or something?

Is this in a nursing come, care home or supported living? I believe the ratio should be different in each. Are you including the cooking/cleaning /laundry staff in your ratio?

I cannot begin to imagine how two ( or even 3) manage 16 if they do the cooking cleaning and laundry as well, unless the residents are very independant

 

[fizzie]

I think it is very very difficult to ration care and it could really backfire. If a minimum is imposed then the homes will just use that number regardless of need and as we all know, levels of need change rapidly in a home - at the moment they are expected to adapt but if the law changes then they will just be able to use the flat minimum. Its a really tricky one.
Usually if there is one on at night there is also someone on call and /or people on a different floor to call on

 

[Lindy50]

Oh this is really interesting. Thank you JanetStreet for raising the issue.

My mum is in a care home with two units of 30 residents (one general, one specialising in dementia). The staffing ratios are the same for both, so for a unit of 30:

One care leader
One, two or three care staff (this varies a lot, I've peeked at the staff sign in register)

The units share:
One cook from 8 to 4 (so care staff do teas)
Three part time cleaners
A laundry lady 8 to 4
An activities organiser, term time only. Activities are held in a shared room on a different floor from mum's room

I think this is cutting staffing to the bone. It explains why residents are not changed frequently enough, and why the place often smells of urine.

The home was inspected by CQC last month and got a 'Good' rating in all areas......

 

[JaneStreet]

I think it is very very difficult to ration care and it could really backfire. If a minimum is imposed then the homes will just use that number regardless of need and as we all know, levels of need change rapidly in a home - at the moment they are expected to adapt but if the law changes then they will just be able to use the flat minimum. Its a really tricky one.
Usually if there is one on at night there is also someone on call and /or people on a different floor to call on

I don't quite understand what you are saying. I am looking for a minimum number of carers (this is not including the cleaning, kitchen , office staff) these are the people who are caring for those with dementia. I think there should be minimum one to four people . if the number of residents change then they can adapt to that. The flat minimum should be a good minimum not one to seven as it sometimes is.

 

[JaneStreet]

I cannot imagine one at night is legal, what would happen if That carer became unwell or something?

Is this in a nursing come, care home or supported living? I believe the ratio should be different in each. Are you including the cooking/cleaning /laundry staff in your ratio?

I cannot begin to imagine how two ( or even 3) manage 16 if they do the cooking cleaning and laundry as well, unless the residents are very independant

this is the whole point - there is no legal limit so a care home can do what they want. Yes they can call on another unit in the building for help but what if they are already stretched to the limit? I'm not including the cleaning staff oct - they have their own jobs. I am talking about the carers who spend who need to have time to "Care" - talk to the residents, do things with them, they are people who need some stimulation and love. The caring staff are so stretched all they can do is serve meals get people in and out of bed and do paper work. I know this will be different in each home but it is worth debating as a lot of us will be in this position in the future

 

[angecmc]

I totally agree with you, at Mums care home they have supposedly one carer to 5 residents. On Mums unit a lot of the residents including Mum need 2 carers for personal care etc. So we often find there is one carer doing medication, which can take all morning sometimes, leaving 2 carers to do everything else as the carer doing medication isn't allowed to do anything else, in case of mistakes, this often means you cannot find a carer in the lounge/ dining area where most of the residents are brought once up. Some are quite argumentative and aggressive towards each other, with sometimes nearly an hour of not being supervised by a carer, it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt by another resident or someone will have a bad fall, quite a few unsteady on their feet. It is something my Sister and I have complained to the home, cqc and Social Services about, doesn't seem to get us anywhere. In fact the other day I went in there was only 2 carers on duty from 10am till 3pm as a carer was taken off the unit for staff training, it's ridiculous. I will be signing your petition xx

Ange

 

[skaface]

I visited a potential home for my mum yesterday - looking online it seems the building used to be Margate's workhouse.

It looked, and felt like, an institution and it didn't look like there were nearly enough staff to cope. I rejected it almost as soon as I walked through the door.

So yes, signed and shared!

 

[JaneStreet]

I totally agree with you, at Mums care home they have supposedly one carer to 5 residents. On Mums unit a lot of the residents including Mum need 2 carers for personal care etc. So we often find there is one carer doing medication, which can take all morning sometimes, leaving 2 carers to do everything else as the carer doing medication isn't allowed to do anything else, in case of mistakes, this often means you cannot find a carer in the lounge/ dining area where most of the residents are brought once up. Some are quite argumentative and aggressive towards each other, with sometimes nearly an hour of not being supervised by a carer, it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt by another resident or someone will have a bad fall, quite a few unsteady on their feet. It is something my Sister and I have complained to the home, cqc and Social Services about, doesn't seem to get us anywhere. In fact the other day I went in there was only 2 carers on duty from 10am till 3pm as a carer was taken off the unit for staff training, it's ridiculous. I will be signing your petition xx

Ange

Thank you , yes this all sounds familiar.

 

[JaneStreet]

thank you for signing, I feel I have to do something and will try my best.

 

[Kjn]

I've thought about this .
I don't think having a law re amount of Carers will help.
Where I am , some homes it can take 8months to get a place , there's lots of homes , not dementia , even home staff we speak to are aware of the disaster of no help available .
We need more homes , society is living longer
It's so complex for families
Care staff in these homes are paid minimum wage , hence the lack of staff problems where we are (no admittance due to shortage of staff) , staff need more pay , opportunity to gain qualifications (this is being trialed in local acute hospital for care staff to be able to dispense meds) .
Just my ramblings.....

Ps sorry I should say il sign though

 

[tigerlady]

Petition signed

 

[JaneStreet]

I've thought about this .
I don't think having a law re amount of Carers will help.
Where I am , some homes it can take 8months to get a place , there's lots of homes , not dementia , even home staff we speak to are aware of the disaster of no help available .
We need more homes , society is living longer
It's so complex for families
Care staff in these homes are paid minimum wage , hence the lack of staff problems where we are (no admittance due to shortage of staff) , staff need more pay , opportunity to gain qualifications (this is being trialed in local acute hospital for care staff to be able to dispense meds) .
Just my ramblings.....

Ps sorry I should say il sign though

Yes I totally agree with the fact that carers should be paid a higher wage alongside better training. I am assuming that the pay is low because you don't seem to have to have any qualifications to go into this kind of caring (correct me if I am wrong) Caring for people with dementia is complex and tiring if its done properly. It is a very important and skilled job - I guess I am trying at the same time to raise awareness as I said before we many of us will end up in a care home. Thanks for signing

 

[CeliaW]

Hi Janet

I am sure you will be aware of the following but thought useful to share for general information.

http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/regulation-18-staffing