Unreliable carer

Hi OP GG62 and Boudica have given you the best advice on how to handle the situation…being told to just ‘sack’ someone would be a not very nice way for you to have to do it. Talking to your carer and getting an explaination from her is the right way to go about things…it doesn’t mean you have to put up with the situation it just means you will both know where you stand. If confrontation is hard for you ( which I know I wouldn’t feel confident handling a situation like yours on my own) then see if someone can be there with you. Unless it is through an agency then speaking to them direct is an option as your needs obviously do come first. Just to ‘sack’ someone as others suggest without talking to your carer who you say has been with you over twelve months seems a shame to not end on good terms xx

You have had various suggestions, and I think that the only thing that you definitely shouldn’t do is nothing.

At the very least, you do need to tell your carer clearly and plainly that she isn’t reliable enough, and also agree with her what reliable attendance looks like, and then monitor what happens, and keep on monitoring it.

If you seem to her ready to put up with the current situation, then the current situation is what you will keep having to put up with. One thing’s for sure: she isn’t going to change her behaviour unless you change yours (and maybe not even then, but that’s the next part of the story, and no use worrying about that yet ). You do not have to put up with this. Keep reminding yourself.

Alison

Alison100, what a very sensible and caring post. x

Hi, it’s me again that posted the unreliable carer question. Thank you all for your replies. I had a phone call from her this morning to say she couldn’t come in today because her friend was ill…!!! Had to wait until 4pm to get a shower and be dressed (by a friend). The carer is employed by my local council and because of cuts to the adult social services budget this financial year, I think that if I complained to the council and she was dismissed the chances of me having a new carer paid for by the council are pretty remote. I really don’t know what to do. As I said, I do like her but this is getting a bit exasperating. I am dependant on her to enable me to have a shower most days and get dressed in the mornings. This disease just sucks.

Hello anon

I don’t mean to be unkind but don’t try to think about the outcome, otherwise you will never do anything and just continue as you are. Just contact the council, you can’t carry on like this. I’m sure she’s a lovely lady but the reality is, she is seriously letting you down so you need to face it and try and sort it out.

Good luck xx

Hi glad your back. Her friend was ill, let’s hope if her friend ever needs a carer she doesn’t get yours!! My guess is, as this lady is ringing you to say she can’t come in then she isn’t informing her employers because if she was they would be finding a replacement. I have only had carers once and that was through my local council and if one of them was sick or on holiday then someone else came. I understand your concern over not being allocated any more care but I’m sure your concerns are unfounded. If they needed to cut your care budget then they would have done it by now, they wouldn’t just do it because you complained. We’re you visited by someone from the council team originally, do you have her/his phone number? They are there to help you please phone them. Or perhaps phone the M.S help line for advice the number is on here somewhere I’ll look it up and private message it to you. They will be better able to advise you. Please don’t put up with this through fear of being abandoned. Jan

I don’t think I can message an anon, ms helpline is 0808 800 8000 they will advise you and I’m sure they will reassure you. Loads of luck Jan

I do not think the council would have any grounds to simply axe your care, because you complained the current carer is unreliable!

That would be absolutely outrageous, to penalise the recipient of care, for daring to mention their carer often doesn’t turn up. If they did decide the solution to complaints was to axe your care, rather than discipline the employee, I’m sure a letter to the local paper, or your MP, or both, would do the trick.

However nice she may appear, I’m seriously thinking the council may not know about her attendance record, and that she is submitting false timesheets, to make it look as if she has been working. How else could she afford the lost wages, and get away this long with absolutely nothing being said about her dreadful record? Is there any other job where you could simply not turn up once or twice a week, and it would be tolerated?

I’ve no way of knowing if she’s doing it to other clients as well, or only to you, because she believes (rightly, so far) that you won’t say anything. But either way, if she’s not turning up, but the council thinks she is, she’s defauding them, and, indirectly, other people needing care. For the money they’re paying her, they could hire somebody else who would turn up.

FYI a care provider in Essex, that did contract work for the council, has been closed down recently, over numerous failings, including carers not turning up. Two Counties Community Care shut over service failings - BBC News

So that gives you some idea how seriously it’s viewed. Her agency - if she has one - could be at risk of losing their licence, so I’m sure they’d want to know and take action, before things came to that.

If you’ve been awarded care, I’m sure the council has some sort of legal obligation to provide it, and to ensure there are checks in place to make sure it happens.

Tina

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Please please do get in touch with the council, maybe this lady is letting others down too…you have had lots of advise already so I won,t repeat it but just beg you to act on this.

You are very unlikely to be refused further care…if they deamed you to need this care then they cannot back out…they have a duty to you.

It does sound as if the excuses are getting more rediculous, her friend is ill…so she should come to you first and then go see her friend.

Do you believe her ? I am perhaps a naturally suspiscious person but it sounds fishy to me.

Please put your needs FIRST.

Reading what Tina has written,makes me think there is definitely something fishy going on. Surely the council wouldn’t repeatedly leave you without care, if they knew this woman wasn’t turning up. I wouldn’t be surprised if this woman knows her targets…the vulnerable ones she can take advantage of. Contact the council today X

[quote=“Anonymous”] Here we go ends up being a squabble this website bores me! [/quote] Sorry to bore you but I posted this because I genuinely don’t know what I should do. I don’t want to be responsible for someone losing their job and wanted to know if anyone else had been in a similar situation and what they did. And, one person’s squabble is another’s healthy debate.

If she loses her job, only she is responsible - not you. Doubtless, if she’s reported, there will have to be an investigation, and she will have all the normal employment rights. If she has genuine reasons, and has acted within the rules, she won’t lose her job. If, on the other hand, she’s been taking the mick, and falsifying hours worked, she deserves whatever’s coming. You have no duty to protect someone who isn’t doing their job properly, and is placing you - and possibly others - at risk.

What happens if there is a serious incident, because you or someone else were left struggling without help? Even if she has a serious illness, or personal problems of which you are unaware, that needs to be managed in a professional way, both by her and her employers. Just leaving vulnerable people to fend for themselves cannot possibly be the approved procedure if she has a problem that stops her working.

Tina

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