Dads home care

Is it an Extracare flat in a village run by the charity Extracare? Anchor are presumably the local social housing. I'm not sure where Age UK come in, though, as Extracare employ their own staff. In the village where my daughter works, Social Services assess how much care is needed for each resident. I'm continuing this post on the assumption that it is an Extracare village.

There should be a care plan in your dad's flat, stating what calls are needed each day, which days his showers are due, etc. Staff should be completing paperwork each time they access the flat - even if it is to say that your dad is not there. This paperwork can then be checked against his care plan.

Your first contact should be with the Head of Care. You should request a reason why your dad is not being showered on the days that his care plan states. If it is lack of staff, then ask who is funding your dad's care, as you wish to take up the matter with them - this should hopefully get things moving. It would be wise to know who is providing the funding anyway. I would also ask for a copy of the Complaints Procedure - even if you don't use it, it is there for your to refer to if you want to instigate a formal complaint in the future.

If it is an Extracare village, here is the link to their website - there are lists of their villages and schemes, so if you're not sure, you might be able to find the name of your dad's scheme here:

https://www.extracare.org.uk/

I can ask my daughter for further advice if you need me to - just let me know. She will know their policies far better than me.

It may be a bit like a situation with my son, who has ASD. The National Autistic Society are an autism charity, but also provide PA/carer services. Unfortunately when they were approached by my son's social worker, we found their service to be much higher in cost than other agencies, and they were very inflexible. Their being a charity with a good reputation doesn't necessarily mean all their paid for services are the best for their client group. We ended up going elsewhere.

If Dad's care is self-funded (he pays for it himself or you on his behalf) then you need to speak to the manager of the care provider who you are paying to provide a service.

If the care is funded, or part funded, by Social Services then you need to get onto the local SS and speak to a care manager to file a complaint against the agency for not adhering to the care plan.

It will be really helpful if you have a copy of his care plan and the dates when the plan is not being followed. The reasons why don't really matter - the care plan is what is deemed as the basic level of care to meet Dad's needs and needs to be adhered to.

Is Dad happy for you to deal with this on his behalf? I am not sure how far you can take it if he doesn't want to pursue it.

If he is happy for you to deal with it, get him to give you written authority stating that the care co. etc. can discuss the matter with you.

Then write keeping a copy of the letter, to the company with whom he has the contract.

Try to keep it as clear and factual (not emotional) as you can.

Set out specifically
- what the contract / care plan says about number of visits / showers
- what has actually been happening (as this is a recurring problem, I would probably do a bulleted list of the past 4-6 weeks setting out the dates on which visits were supposed to take place, when they actually took place, and when visits were cancelled (with him being informed) or people simply failed to attend.

Then be clear about what you want to happen now (i.e. confirmation that he will get the appropriate number of visits and that in the event a visit is not possible, that he will be informed in a timely way, and the visits rearranged for the following day and flagged as a priority.

Ask what steps the organisation has in place to record when visits are missed and whether, when visits are missed, they are then prioritised the next day, or whether they are expected to be fitted around the existing jobs for that day (which might explain long delays), and what safeguards are in place to ensure that consecutive visits are not missed, resulting in extended periods with no vists / assistance.

Ask for a refund of fees to reflect the fact that the full service paid for was not provide and ask for a copy of their formal complaints process.

If you already have a copy of their complaints process, or can find one, follow it, and reference it in the letter (e.g. I look forward to receiving a substantive response within 28 days in accordance with your complaints policy)