Private Carer or Agency - some advice please

Flake

Registered User
Mar 9, 2015
222
0
Hello, me again. My mum has a care package - 3 visits per day for half hour each. They are not brilliant but things are slowly improving. The staff do not overdo their roles and will leave Mum in dirty clothing and not prompt too much personal care. Food can sometimes be a mish mash of snacks and the latest thing is soup despite the fridge being full of ready meals, which my mum used to have on a daily basis. I made her a traditional meal today which she almost finished. The Carer seemed a little miffed that I had done her food and suggested that if I was going to be there then she would leave! Now one of the Reabement team (who have now left) has offered to come into my Mum in a private role. What a your views on this. She will be self employed and has arranged cover for days off and holiday. What are the pros and cons of this or should I stick to an agency that is monitored by Social Services. I would appreciate your comments. Thank you :confused:
 

emz_33

Registered User
Oct 25, 2014
30
0
Hello, me again. My mum has a care package - 3 visits per day for half hour each. They are not brilliant but things are slowly improving. The staff do not overdo their roles and will leave Mum in dirty clothing and not prompt too much personal care. Food can sometimes be a mish mash of snacks and the latest thing is soup despite the fridge being full of ready meals, which my mum used to have on a daily basis. I made her a traditional meal today which she almost finished. The Carer seemed a little miffed that I had done her food and suggested that if I was going to be there then she would leave! Now one of the Reabement team (who have now left) has offered to come into my Mum in a private role. What a your views on this. She will be self employed and has arranged cover for days off and holiday. What are the pros and cons of this or should I stick to an agency that is monitored by Social Services. I would appreciate your comments. Thank you :confused:

Hi Flake, I'm having the same problem like you are, I'm finding that agency carers are just don't have the time to spent to someone who desperately need it. I've had some real problems with the agency I'm with plus social services aren't giving me the money to pay for agency fees, with direct payment you can chose what you spend the money on as long as it goes on care for this reason I feel that someone who has dementia is better option for them. Plus you can have it for as long as you want. I would think that if someone has offered to care privately I'd bite their right arm off! Just make sure they have all the correct training moving and handling medication dementia awareness you can check for all the mandatory online. Plus they will need a recent DBS otherwise they will need to pay for a new one. From the information that I've come across they will be self employed, I need to look into this further but something that I think is a move for the better. Wish you good luck with it. Emz
 

Leswi

Registered User
Jul 13, 2014
120
0
Bedfordshire
If somebody has worked for the reablement team they will have had CRB checks etc and be experienced. I did a similar thing with mum as I wanted regular faces. The problem I have is Social Services pay a lower hourly rate for Direct Payments than they do to an Agency, bizarre I know. I top up the money to get the person I want. If she is self employed you only need to keep invoices/ receipts and you are not responsible for her tax NI etc.
 

bemused1

Registered User
Mar 4, 2012
3,402
0
Bite her hand off. However good the agency carers are, the top line is its all about money, not the clients
 

Izzy

Volunteer Moderator
Aug 31, 2003
73,996
0
72
Dundee
I know the situation in Scotland is different but I thought I'd mention that I use Direct Payments. I've been employing carers now for just over 4 years as I first needed them for my mum. In fact I poached our first carers from an agency. It makes such a difference to have the continuity of care. Relationships and trust are built up and I feel that my husband benefits so much from this.
 

Flake

Registered User
Mar 9, 2015
222
0
Thank you, all of you. Went into Mum today, the Carer had left out a slice of bread and butter and orange juice for breakfast as apparently my mum had said she had had a fry up. It was so obvious that she had not cooked. Also Sunday pm medication was not given. I am so tired of complaining about this Agency and I think it is a big push for me to move on. Thank you :D
 

User

Registered User
Mar 23, 2015
25
0
I'm in your boat. I'd have this person's arm off and employ them straight away.

Observations so far:

Agency carers vary wildly between next to useless and fantastic. IMT the latter are rare, the former common.

Any carer needs to be pro-active - "Can I do XYZ for you?" rather than "What do you want doing?" as the answer to the latter seems always to be "Nothing, thank you, everything's OK".

Complaints are useless, unless there's actual harm done, in which case something will happen.

Agency carers cost 2.5x a private carer.


Note: I'm looking for a private carer/carers too. If you have any gems of wisdom, please pass them on! I hope to report back as well.