Liaising with care services
In the run up to publication of my new book Carers and Caring; the One Stop Guide; how to care for older relatives and friends I am sharing some of the practical solutions learned from research and experience. If you think any problems have been missed you can email me and tell me, and I’ll make sure they are covered in the next edition and online on my website at www.juneandrews.net.
Liaising with care services
Sometimes being a carer, even if it is at long distance, is like being a project worker in a complex undertaking. I don’t say ‘manager’, because at times what happens is out of your control. Getting care services is never the end of the story. It may be that you then have to do a lot of work to keep the system working. The web is essential. You may be already having to read this blog for information, and though it tries to put everything in one place, even my book must refer you to websites because local variation is huge and rules and regulations change all the time. Making appointments, arranging transport, ensuring supplies of medicines . . . everything takes time and there are so many things to do. It is even worse when things go wrong.
If there is a problem, you should keep a diary of issues and keep notes of phone calls and meetings. You really need a file for this. Always put any complaints in writing. There can be problems with the quality of personal care, or other needs not being met. You may know stories of carers having to stay off work because the care workers funded by the agency or council did not turn up.
You are like a Project Manager
Managing care workers who come in and out of the house can be difficult. If an agency has a problem with staffing, you may get a call at very short notice to say that no one is coming. Agencies should have a back-up plan in case of an emergency, but this doesn’t always happen. You will have to make a formal complaint. If the local authority is funding the care, you can complain to them. If you are funding it, you need to speak to the agency manager to give them a chance to investigate, explain and put things right. The manager may not even know that this happened until you tell them. You can take your complaint higher, eventually to the Ombudsman. Their details are in the Useful Contacts and Resources chapter of Care and Caring the One Stop Guide. In Scotland the regulator will investigate individual complaints, but not in the rest of the UK.
Some of your problems can arise from the person you care for not wanting to have care workers in the house. Also, siblings who are not providing direct care might agree with the older person who is refusing outside help. Families need to work together on this.
If you do not live in the same house, or if you cannot visit frequently because you are in another part of the country, you can ask the agency to send you a monthly report. If you are in the house, you can look at the report sheets that are filled out by care workers to see if what should be happening is evidenced in the records. The person you care for may be able to tell you about any problems themselves. If they are not happy, or have an aversion to a particular carer, this gives you a clue. However, the person you care for may be impossible to please, so it’s not simple.
There is much more about liaising with care workers in Carers and Caring: The One-Stop Guide: How to care for older relatives and friends - with tips for managing finances and accessing the right support available from all good bookshops in May 2022
Three hints:
1. You cannot assume that care workers will always do what they are supposed to do
2. If there are problems, there are ways of getting them fixed
3. The best clue is whether the person cared for is happy, (even though some people seem never to be happy)
