carers and their role

Hi,

I can only give my experience of mum's carers, not sure if it will help.  We had a care package put in place by Social Services initially for 2 carers, one am and one pm (half hour each).  It was actually written in the care plan what they would be doing to a point.  The morning one was there to help me get mum up and washed, dressed, etc and the evening to help me get mum changed into nightclothes and small wash.  I got to know the carers really well and they would say what they did at others houses, everyones needs are different, so sometimes they were there to prepare a meal, other times to do some cleaning and other times just to check all was ok.  I know our carers always helped clean up afterwards, etc, and never left their own mess, but ours were specifically for cleaning mum.  Not sure what the care plan says for your Dad, but I am sure it can be altered if necessary.  I know some carers go above and beyond their role and others just do the bare minimum, luck of the draw on the day to which carer you have sometimes.  

Hope this helps a little.

Nic x

Hi Passionflower,

There should be a written down care plan which can be mutually changed as circumstances change.  Perhaps it is time to have another meeting with the social worker.  They may feel if you are a full time carer working the 35 hours a week that you will be doing the dishes and they are doing the essential hands on work with your dad.  Would have thought your mum too would have a care plan.

Jan x

Hi the careplan does need revising and also your mum needs a careplan too.  there is now something called direct payments, where you choose your own carers not those sent by social services.  this may suit you better but it is quite involved as you become an employer and whoever you take on as carers become your employees.  it is a better option if you want to have your own carers and can tell them what needs to be done which would be in a careplan in any event.  choice is yours, but a review seems necessary.

heywood x

Hello there,

It's a long time since a posted a blog or a response but I read the blogs on a regular basis and thought as a carer myself I should respond.

When I returned from living in America I wanted to give something back "so to speak" so I decided to become a carer.  I started in June and work 3 days a week - occasionally I work extra to help out colleagues if they are ill or on holiday.  Every service user has a detailed personal care plan outlining care and assistance required, mostly it's personal care but in addition it can be meal requirements, domestic duties etc.   Some carers I have worked with will go the extra mile, whilst others remind me of the Benny Hill signature tune and are so fast that it makes me dizzy - not good.

It's important that your dad informs the carers of his needs in addition to the care plan because every service user is different and should always have choices - this should never be taken away.  He mustn't be afraid to speak his mind and if he isn't happy - then say so (in a diplomatic way)

Good luck with your search for good carers and I hope things work out well for the future.

Kind regards

Lorraine

i think mum and stepdad usedcto have the same carer going in ,but now a new company has taken it over and no two days are the same regarding who goes in to see my stepdad .i think i was just having an off day yesterday .so excuse my rant lolxxx  today we have had another problem where my stepdad decided to flush his incontinence pads down the loo and blocked the loo consequently we had to have the plumber out.it didnt help that stepdad kept flushing chain to get rid of pads and all this  did was caused the toilet to overflow more   ..soon sorted it out though its marvellous what a bit of domestos and zoflora can do xxx