Carer - access to house

There isn't enough info to give advice, but I'm pretty sure you can't just decide to change the locks on someone else's house unless you have official documentation giving you the legal right.

I notice the OP has not returned.
We don’t know whether the cleaner has a key or whether she works for an agency.

I would just contact the cleaner and tell her she is no longer needed as the lady concerned is in hospital and very ill. She will tell you if she works for an agency.
She needs to return any keys she has and if she uses a key safe then you need to change the number.
Obviously she will get paid up to date.
I wouldn’t think POA even comes into it.

My late Uncle had a cleaner who he was more than generous to. She was a single Mum with a teenage son and she was always telling him sob stories like the lad was being picked on for not having the right football boots/bike/coat and as he and his wife never had kids he was always paying for expensive items. My Dad was his executor but lived some distance away but when my Uncle died it was clear to him that she had been letting herself in and helping herself to valuable items and cash. My Dad used to collect my Uncle’s pension for him every couple of months and always kept it in the house for shopping, paying window cleaner, milkman etc. so there was always several hundreds of pounds in his house but Dad never found a penny.

Good point, loopy

We need GSM .
Surely this is a safeguarding issue.
Does this lady have a solicitor?
Surely Social Services should be involved.
I should think contacting the cleaners agency is best but who is managing the lady's bank account?
Presumably the Office of the Public Guardian could give you advice.
I would think you have no authority to change locks

I used to have to pretend to be her on the phone to stop direct debits and standing orders.

My husband set up my Dad's BT account and rang them to book an engineer's visit recently.
The man on the phone asked to speak to Dad (as the account holder) so he could authorise the work, and asked Dad for certain letters from his password.

Dad had no idea so he asked my husband what the letters were, he told Dad the answers and Dad told the man on the phone.

We were all, including the man on the phone, in fits of laughter 😂

When my husband died, I gave Power of Attorney and lasting Power of Attorney to our two sons. If ever I am unable to look after myself or anything else regarding my home, they will take over. I am totally amazed at how many of my friends are now in hospital after losing their husbands/wife but their family cannot organise anything on their behalf. They are having to pay for everything out of their own money until they can get a solicitor involved.

I cannot believe there are still people who do not think about making out wills and Powers of Attorney to save this mess later on.

I even made out a DNR form so if I was taken seriously ill from which I would not have a good life, I want to be in charge of my own destiny.

NotSpaghetti

Also, if this is the stepmother's carer is it normal to be s cleaner?
Just wondering.

Exactly this.
Is she a cleaner or a carer?
My mother had a no POA it was a nightmare.
I used to have to pretend to be her on the phone to stop direct debits and standing orders.
The stress it caused was off the scale.

This happened with DD1’s FinL after he was admitted to hospital, then discharged into residential care.
They just wrote to the Agency and paid the outstanding amount. The carer been accessing via a code, so that was changed.
As for duties, she made him drinks, ensured he’d taken his meds, did a bit of cleaning and left something for his lunch - so yes, multi tasking.

Also, if this is the stepmother's carer is it normal to be s cleaner?
Just wondering.

Maybe hamster58 - but if they are trustworthy before with someone already unwell in the house (and alone) - has that really changed I wonder?

I get the feeling the concern is that this person has free access to the property in the absence of the person who lives there, not so much general security?

It is quite common for cleaners to continue to go in and clean, to keep the house nice. They have no official information about discharge, state of health etc.
You have good advice above, and your best bet is a friendly call and discussion either with the company, or if self-employed, the cleaner herself.
As other have said, you may (depending on circumstances) wish her to continue to clean - maybe less often - to keep the house ticking over.

I would assume that if nobody has terminated her contract she is still getting paid so good on her for continuing to go to the house. Give her notice, pay the notice period but say that she does not have to go anymore.

If you change the locks without cancelling cleaning will they go on charging?

I assume you are more concerned about the security aspect than anything else.

If the house is empty (as my son's house is quite often) it might be a good idea to have a cleaner visit in my opinion.

Does the carer work for a company? If so you could contact the office and explain and cancel . But I think the safest thing would be to change the locks, so that the house would be safe. The carer may be just doing what she has been asked to do, but also if the house is empty and you do not know if anyone else may have a key to the property, it might be safer to change the locks and that way you will know that no one can get into the property. If the lady has been in hospital for a long time, and you are not local, you may need to look at the insurance on the house, as some insurances do not cover a house being empty for a long time. I dont know the legality of changing locks etc if you are not the next of kin but as it is being done for safety and not to stop the owner returning I would think it would be ok and much less of a problem than the house being burgled etc.

If she is employed to clean then she is just doing her job. If her contract needs to be ended then due to lack of capacity your husband could issue a termination of employment letter paying any monies due and get the locks changed on the property. I can't see any other way?

Is she expected to improve at all?

Good idea.
Is your husband her next of kin then?

If you know she is accessing the home then why don't you speak to the company she works for? Maybe the hospital have some info as well?