As much as Homecare workers are a godsend, sometimes, just sometimes they can be more of a hindrance than a help. This isn’t a post to bash them and I’m extremely grateful but sometimes the whole system of care agency staff just induce an eye roll. It’s tiny things that bug me, such as:
Charging their mobiles as soon as they enter the house - I find it really rude, what if you’re on your last fiver of electric?
Not arriving at the same time (it’s so awkward when they’re just sitting there)
When completely new staff are sent to your house and what would be your 15minutes of respite gets spent teaching them how to properly and safely transfer your mum via hoist (shouldn’t they know this already?)
When they use your mums care time as their ‘catch up’ time and won’t stop talking- especially in a different language
and breathe
As I said, it’s not to bash them but It does make me wonder for people who are completely alone, I step in sometimes but it’s also hard toeing the line between them understanding and them saying “oh I like going to XX’s house but her daughter is a nightmare”
I completely agree!
Who is employing them, you privately, or via Social Services.
There should be some basic rules for them.
They should always charge their phones in their cars, not in your house.
They should always talk in English, never if a foreign language.
They are breaching patient confidentiality if they EVER talk about other patients/clients anywhere! This should be a disciplinary issue.
If a call needs two carers, they should wait outside and arrive together, so that you get the full amount of time you are paying for.
Thank you! I didn’t want to come across as whingey but it really does grate after a while.
Social services employ them, as much as a complaint is made, I always receive the sigh on the other end of the phone to the care manager which translates to “I’ll add it to my list of 85 others things to sort” so it’s a bit of a frustrating cycle.
Regarding the language thing, I have noticed a curious number of younger carers coming over to my house and they’re all part time students, one of the staff last week (during catch up time) said she had just come to the country in November, so maybe they’re helping each other in that sense, it’s more the “gigglers” and “where do you have to go next?”
Whilst I agree that they should ask to charge their phone, if they only charged their phone at your house, (and never anywhere else), it would cost you about £1 per year, the wattage used is minuscule.