Short Changed by Care Agencies

MrHappy
MrHappy Online Community Member Posts: 177 Empowering
in Families and carers

In my experience an issue with care agencies is carers routinely failing to stay for the allocated time. For me its clearly endemic across the entire care system that carers routinely leave early. Ok, carers have such a tight schedule if they can gain a few minutes on every visit travelling to the next client becomes much less stressful but that's a problem the agencies should factor into the equation. Instead the agencies charge the client (or Social Services) for a set time fully aware carers regularly leave early. The cost to Social Services nationwide must be astronomical where clients and SSD's pay for care that doesn't actually happen.

Comments

  • Rosie_Scope
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 7,682 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    It's a really tough one @MrHappy. I'm sure you're right, there must be a huge loss of money for care that doesn't happen. Carers are under so much time pressure sometimes and that does negatively impact the people they care for. I'm not sure what the answers are but it's not easy!

    What do you think would have to change to make things better?

  • MrHappy
    MrHappy Online Community Member Posts: 177 Empowering
    edited February 1

    Hi @Rosie_Scope

    The problem is very clear therefore the answer is also very clear.

    SSD's must make it crystal clear to care agencies they need to honour care contracts which means agencies need to allocate realistic amounts of time for carers to travel between clients. If they were to do that the problem immediately disappears. A difficult proposition for agencies because with short travel times between clients more clients can be visited on any given day resulting in more profit and as commercial businesses profit is the bottom line for all care agencies.

    Ask any carer what the biggest problem they have working in the care industry is and the answer is always the same namely they are under enormous pressure to reach the next client on time. That's ok on paper but in the real world weather conditions and traffic congestion are daily problems faced by all carers.

  • Wind
    Wind Online Community Member Posts: 16 Listener

    We use carers 3 calls week days and 4 weekendes they never do the full houre has the do not get payed for time spent travleing to and from calls and the pack the calls in each day yes they pay petrol money but they do not pay minniam wage dou to this ,coucels now this but over look it .

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