Where to turn for advice on social care practices?

Hi everyone. Happy new year!

Does anyone here know if there are any advice lines or services, or even an online forum, which offers advice on social care? In particular, direct payments.

One of my carees has part of their care funded through direct payments, and she’s having a hell of time being passed from pillar to post by an independent living organization who are fit for use nor ornament, and a social worker who claims to have no knowledge/control over how a budget is costed/controlled.

She needs to get some advice on how to handle an issue one of her carers is facing with their pay, but the organization blame it on the social worker, and the social worker blames it on them. Rinse and repeat. She’s getting nowhere and doesn’t know where to turn to seek advice.

She has employment law cover on her employers insurance which has an advice line, but they don’t know anything about direct payments and her liability as an employer. Her carer has spoken to ACAS/Unison, but again, they know little/nothing about the situation to really clarify anything.

There is a laundry list of issues that my caree needs some advice on, and there’s nowhere to really turn because no one seems to know both employment law AND the Care Act, AND the wicked web of DP’s.

Can anyone suggest a lifeline?

I thought of the social care ombudsman, but I fear that might be a leap too far when a lot of these problems she’s facing could be resolved simply by knowing what’s right/wrong.

Thanks.

I gave up on Direct Payments for my son, for this sort of reason, especially the complete ignorance of Social Services.
Their attitude was “pay up, the care agency is a small business, they need the money” regardless of the fact that the agency was a complete and utter failure.
Unfortunately for them, I had an Honours degree in Business Studies, contract law was my favourite subject.
I was also running a small business, selling off the 30 tons of vintage lorry spares, my late husband’s stock, and I really resented all the time it was taking to manage the DP’s.