problems with care provider

I have had 2 agencies in the past...they charged much much more than the carers got

I have carers....the LA gives me just £9.07 an hour to pay them. I make a contribution of £39 a week....and that`s difficult. They haven't had a pay rise for over 8 years

Hi, if the person being cared for is being poorly treated, then you need to complain...they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it

Carers aren't necessarily cleaners! We used to employ a carer especially to come in and chat to my MiL during the day when we were working. We could do the other stuff. However, we were very lucky with this lady and she'd make Gran nice little lunches of things she'd fancy. I suppose she had the right personality for the job. She was kind and sensible. I don't know how much of what we paid the agency actually got to her though!

When I was a carer for a close relative, I cannot count the amount of times Id get a phone call saying the carer has not turned up. There were carers in twice a day andI did the caring in between when not at work. All I will say is, we got absolutely no support and left to it. The attitude of GP was appalling.There are carers and there are carers. Some my relative had were wonderful, others I wouldnt have left a budgie with. My friend's carer used to come in and sit and chat. Nothing in the way of housework got done. I think it is all very hit and miss.

I am angry too - my OH has just had to go into a nursing home which will mean our home will have to be sold to pay the fees - care at home just fell apart all the time. The agencies talk about live-in care as a panacea, but the reality is that they cannot get good carers (probably because they do not pay them enough) - it is all hit and miss. We had 4, and they were all doing their best, but they were not up to the job in various different ways.

It is absolutely DIRE Raniog. After a lifetime of admin work I agreed to help out as a carer - I am supporting people with very complex issues (including acute seizures and the administration of powerful drugs) Apart from myself and a couple of others nobody is interested in learning more about how to enrich their lives! Some hadn't even been trained how to deal in an emergency.

I was appalled by people who spent most of their time on their phones or watching t.v.

I did report but did it solve the problem? No...although a lot of the 'slackers' left or were dismissed, they, the company, have been unable to employ appropriate people because most of them had been forced to come for interview by DSS and clearly did not want the job. Crisis point now with so few staff trying their best to keep it all going. Care work is a total shambles and needs to be addressed at Government level.

Am constantly angry about it all and how people are suffering because the powers that be deem it to be a lowly job on minimum wage. We literally have some lives in our hands! Not exaggerating and yet are not recognised as anything more than cleaners (no disrespect to cleaners by the way)

My neighbour was wheelchair-bound and terminally ill so needed 24 hour care. I'm sorry to say that there was but one carer who was competent, cheerful, hard working and reliable.

Thursdays, when Julie came, were the highlight of the week! I could relax too, knowing that she'd actually cook dinner (rather than offer toast or a ready meal).

I remember my neighbour saying 'It's quite bad enough being this ill, without having to deal with these clowns!'

PS: my apologies if that didn't sound sympathetic - I want this because those of us who who struggle with our current system deserve better, and so do carers.

Well, the really novel idea would be to pay carers well, offer proper training and a career structure within nationally agreed guidelines. I shall be looking for that in the parties' manifestos.

My wife and I look after one of her grandson who has PMLD. He’s non-verbal, needing 24/7 care and help with everything. We have just stopped using an agency to provide us with help because the so-called expert carers they sent were mostly awful...
They left more work for us-well for my wife really because I can’t do much these days - they’d leave him on wet sheets, a dirty bath, water on the floor and much worse. Two of them were aggressive towards me because I would question the standard of their work.
Agency managers don’t believe us if we complain to them and they can stop sending carers if they want because they are private businesses.
This was the third agency we’ve used in times when we don’t have our own PA’s, and they have all been the same.
You are right Raniog, they don’t care because they don’t understand what it is to have PMLD or something similar.
We are lucky that we have just found one person to work as his PA. But if we ever need help from an agency again, we’ll have trouble getting one!!
Hope you have better luck now

As a society, we just don't tend to value care workers (or childcare, either) and often few entry criteria, little training and minimum wages apply. That old saying 'If you pay peanuts, expect monkeys' is true. It's all about saving money!

People First is a good organisation too. peoplefirstltd.com/

Complain - MP, ombudsman - the lot. Don't just watch it happening!

I don't disagree, sadly. Mind you, society's attitude in general towards people with learning disabilities is pretty awful.