Morning all, sorry couldnt think of a better title for this!
I have a quick question that hoping someone might know the answer to. If a care plan states x amount of minutes per call should that be the amount of time given?
Ive been told where the care is being paid for by LA or CHC the time per call call is only guidance for the carer to show how much time is being funded so not to go over but can do as little time as they like so long as they turn up, so basically as long as they turn up x amount of times on care plan it doesnt have to be for the time stated on plan. Is this correct does anyone know?
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I would be interested to know this too. Our agency is relatively expensive but when contracted for an hour they often leave after 50 minutes and sometimes after as little as 35 minutes.
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If you are paying for 15 minutes you should get 15 minutes.
Maybe invest in a Ring doorbell or similar?
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In this case mum doesnt pay for care herself, im guessing if she was she would just pay for the actual time, there is a ring doorbell hence me knowing times they come and go so asked why care plan says a time lenght for each call but often the time spent isnt even close to half! I was told the times are just to reflect the funding allowed for each call not the times they have to do. Im not sure if that is correct though
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Yes knocking of nearly half the time seems wrong when the care plan sets a time, quite often its only a quater of what the time is given.!
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In that case, the council will be paying them.
Is there a formal care plan?
A basic principle of the Care Act is that “assessed needs must be met”.
So she should be getting whatever the plan says!
Maybe make a complaint to the council via their website, and also speak to our CUK helpline.
I’d be interested to see their official answers!
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There is a formal care plan yes, I did raise this some time again but informally, I got a vague they ought to do the time stated but there is such a care shortage so … I felt bad raising it and made to feel lucky that mum had actually got some care at least and be grateful which of course I am. The needs met I feel is the sticking point, if a carer can race through the plan and get things done in 10 mins then they are able to say a need has been met.
I will contact the helpline thank you.
Heya. All care companies must be able to stick to whatever is on the client care plan. Of course of a client wishes to change things at short notice that is different but care plans need to be viewed as a binding document. For example if a wheelchair user wants to exercise in a local park then all this must be recorded on the care plan in question. Care plans must all also be reviewed at least once a year to see if the information needs to be changed. If you can try to obtain a copy of the updated support or care plan in question as well.
This is how it should be Thara but sadly it often is not! To few carers for the amount of people requiring it unfortunately, everything gets cut to the bone and any complaints are meet with the attitude you should be grateful to get any care at all, which of course people are they just wish it could be fit for purpose.
@Torchie I think in your case if they are only showing for 15 minutes you have nothing to lose! If they are that unprofessional I wouldn’t even argue with them, just find out their notice period and try another agency, perhaps checking the care plan to make it difficult to wriggle out of.
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I used to take this with a pinch of salt provided care was being given. The carers my brother had were not paid for travel time and the traffic sometimes caused problems. I would certainly complain to the care company if the time was greatly reduced, but it was a case of weighing up a number of things. If they were good regular carers who my brother liked I wouldn’t be worried about a few minutes short, but racing through the plan is really not on. And you should not feel bad raising it. But sometimes, as you suggest, that is life.
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You are in my prayers. This is why I’m still on the fence about hiring a care company to use on a part time basis from September onwards in order to help me. I need to conduct more research online in addition to find out some more information. I have previously read a few different care company websites. I also viewed the feedback reports but I am not sure. Good luck to you. I hope that you can find a good local care company that works out for you. But if not consider the other and better options. Such as a live in or live out carer or a vetted care home.
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Checking the review sites such as Trustpilot is useful. With some industries like banks, almost all companies get bad reviews, but with care agencies some get great reviews and some do not.
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Unfortunately due to a huge backlog of people waiting for care SS are extremely reluctant to even investigate poor care practices, I think so long as the company is registered with CQC they dont particularly care!
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I agree Torchie, our council have no qualms about using agencies and care homes with poor CQC ratings or under new names/management that haven’t even been (re) inspected yet?!
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My mum complained to CQC about her care, it must have been bad because normally she would never dream of complaining! They took her complaint seriously, and added it to the enormous list of other complaints mum knew nothing about. After their involvement, care improved significantly!!!
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I guess if they are only there for 15 minutes then they may be squeezing more than one client into the hour 
You could leave them a glowing review on Trustpilot, once you are no longer dealing with them.
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That is amazing BB! I havent heard of anyone getting a satisfactory outcome following a complaint, there is a really awful care home that the LA use, the last CQC went from needs improvement to inadequate and is in special measures yet still the LA use it because its cheap!
At the time, mum was living in her own home, supported by Agincare. Mum would not normally complain about anything at all, not wishing to “make a fuss” so the fact that she complained at all was remarkable. Apparently CQC had been flooded with complaints, it even made the front page of the local paper, but things did improve afterwards. The problem with our area is that it is very “top heavy” so many people retire to the beautiful New Forest and then get ill as they get older, and find that the services they had “back home” just don’t exist here!
I agree with Greta - I see Mum’s carers circling the block trying to find a parking space and it can really cut into their work time. They are so kind, thoughtful and caring Mum really looks forward to seeing them. I never see them rush jobs (though if they were running late would understand if they did) and as long as they do everything we want them to do, I wouldn’t expect them to spend the full 30 minutes every visit, if it wasn’t necessary. In fact it is probably only the first visit of the day where they use all of the allocated time.
If I was concerned they were flitting in and out, I would provide more tasks for them 
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