Scotland’s home care service ‘at breaking point’, finds Unison report

Care provided to vulnerable people in their own homes in Scotland is at “breaking point” as a result of cuts, according to a new report by Unison.

A survey of home care workers by the trade union found that four in five said they believe the service has been affected by budget cuts or privatisation with carers saying the emphasis was now on “quantity rather than quality”.

Nine in ten (88 per cent) said they were limited to specific times for client visits, with many reporting this was too short a period to properly cater to a client’s needs, while over a quarter (26 per cent) said they were not paid for their travelling time.

Two thirds (66.5 per cent) said they did not have anywhere to go between visits to have a meal, hot drink or toilet break and nearly half (43 per cent) said they worked longer than their contracted hours, according to the poll.

The findings are contained with Unison’s We care, do you? report which is also based on a freedom of information request to all local authorities in Scotland.

With the majority of care being carried out by private contractors, it leaves local authorities with little control over how home care functions are delivered.

Councils said 15 minute care visits were only for the most basic needs, but workers reported scheduling didn’t allow for longer visits. 24 out of 31 councils said they used a mixture of in-house and contracted-out staff. The percentages of the services contracted-out varied from 10 per cent (West Dunbartonshire) to 91 per cent (West Lothian). The number of contractors used varied widely too from three in East Renfrewshire to 38 in West Lothian.

While almost all councils say they pay the Scottish Living Wage to their own staff, not many believed their contractors do so. The recent Procurement Act allows payment of the living wage to be a factor in the issuing of contracts, but the councils who responded to our question said they did not use the procurement guidelines.

Unison Scotland is campaigning for local authorities to sign up to its Ethical Care Charter for home care services, which sets minimum standards to protect the dignity and quality of life for people who need home care. It commits councils to buying home care only from providers who give workers enough time, training and a living wage, so they can provide a better quality care for thousands of service users who rely on it.

Stephen Smellie, Unison Scotland’s depute convener, said: “This report highlights the shocking truths of a dedicated, caring workforce who are being stretched to the limit, often resulting in their own stress and ill-health.

“They juggle with travelling time and running late, to ensure their tasks are completed as best as they can, some often go back in their own time to make sure their clients’ needs are met.

“The most vulnerable people in our society rely on the services our home carers provide. They deserve better, much better – and so do care workers. This should include a decent, and reliable, wage for the work they do, with proper facilities and a workload which allows them to do their job properly. They care for us, it is only right that we in turn care for them.”

Dave Watson, Unison’s head of policy and public affairs, added: “As austerity bites, it seems care in the home is being perceived as the ‘cheap option’ compared to the cost of care homes or hospitals.

“The Scottish Government’s commitment to ensure the Scottish Living Wage is paid this October is a welcome step forward. In addition to fair pay, it is vital that Scotland’s councils sign up to Unison’s Ethical Care Charter which sets minimum standards for home care. It is particularly disappointing that the opportunities provided by the Procurement Act have not as yet been taken up by local authorities.”

 SOURCE: Unison, Scottish Housing News

I quit a fantastic job as Mum has Alzheimer's. It was an easy decision

After three months being sedated in a care home, Mum couldn’t even lift her head. That’s when I knew I had to look after her

Much of the support Dad received was superb. Without our local GPs and the district nursing team, his pain and anxiety would have become intolerable in the weeks approaching his death. Without them he would have died in hospital, not at home – even though it was not quite in his own bed as that had been replaced by a medical model.

But given declining resources and increasing demand one needs to ask: what is the simplest way for information on financial support to be communicated by health and social care professionals to the relatives of those with long term care needs?

It strikes me that there is a way to easily pass on information about allowances, reductions and funding. Last year the Guardian carried a story on John’s Campaign, a fight to give carers the right to stay in hospital with their loved ones with dementia. As a result, many hospitals now offer a carer’s passport to relatives of dementia patients.

Perhaps as part of this, local authorities and the NHS could add a document highlighting the various reductions in council tax available, as and when the patient comes home. Some people with dementia or a mental impairment are exempt from the tax, and there are possible banding reductions for use of equipment or a wheelchair.

Clear information on respite care, attendance and carer’s allowance, and possible grants for home modification, would also go some way to making sure carers know what they are entitled to.

My mum wasn’t made aware of any of this when my dad was discharged from numerous hospital admissions. She found out some information from friends, and stumbled on other help by chance. It shouldn’t be that way.

Such documentation could also highlight the patient’s right to be assessed for NHS continuing healthcare, a right that the Alzheimer’s Society campaigns for, even if the chances of it being awarded are painfully slim and riddled with complexity.

Of course, such documentation shouldn’t only be delivered in a hospital setting: information packs could also be provided to relatives at memory clinic assessments, where dementia is most likely to be initially confirmed, thus triggering certain allowances.

Documentation should be plain, simple and printed. There is too much reliance on older people using the internet (one might question how many older people feed back to the NHS Choices hospital review portal, for instance).

Many “hardworking families” (to use political parlance) fear losing their savings and home in financing care. It seems appropriate that as much as possible is done to inform and simplify information for them so that their taxes will, if only in a small way, help towards the cost of providing care at home.

SOURCE: Sid Wheeler, The Guardian

Dementia staff have senses impaired during training to increase understanding of living with condition

Archant

Staff at a city care home have been given an insight into life with dementia as part of a new training scheme.

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Members of Ivy Court Care Home, on Ivy Road, Norwich, donned gloves, glasses, and ear plugs, before entering a room staged to further impair their senses - to give them a taste of the challenges people with the condition face daily.

Michele Saunders, who runs the scheme, said: “We’re immersing them in practical understanding of what it feels like to live with dementia every day.”

The training room contained flashing lights, low background lighting, a blaring TV, and a switched-on vacuum cleaner.

Participants were then told to perform basic tasks such as putting on a shirt and doing it up, pairing socks, completing a puzzle, and finding a teddy bear.

The 12-minute experience is designed to simulate the confusion, heightened sensitivity to sound, and loss of feeling in extremeties, which are some of the symptoms of the various forms of dementia.

The programme is being rolled out across East Anglia-based company Caring Homes Group UK, of which Ivy Court is part.

Ms Saunders, dementia training lead for the company, added: “It’s about finding the difficulties that most of us take for granted which dementia patients struggle with.

“For many staff it gives them a ‘lightbulb moment’ and I hope it increases their empathy and ability to understand why and how their mobility is affected.”

Billy McKee, one of the staff-members at Ivy Court, said: “It was hard to do what we were asked.

“It taught me to allow the person time to use the abilities they have.”

SOURCE: Eastern Daily Press. Nicholas Carding

Dementia staff have senses impaired during training to increase understanding of living with condition

Archant

Staff at a city care home have been given an insight into life with dementia as part of a new training scheme.

Members of Ivy Court Care Home, on Ivy Road, Norwich, donned gloves, glasses, and ear plugs, before entering a room staged to further impair their senses - to give them a taste of the challenges people with the condition face daily.

Michele Saunders, who runs the scheme, said: “We’re immersing them in practical understanding of what it feels like to live with dementia every day.”

The training room contained flashing lights, low background lighting, a blaring TV, and a switched-on vacuum cleaner.

Participants were then told to perform basic tasks such as putting on a shirt and doing it up, pairing socks, completing a puzzle, and finding a teddy bear.

The 12-minute experience is designed to simulate the confusion, heightened sensitivity to sound, and loss of feeling in extremeties, which are some of the symptoms of the various forms of dementia.

The programme is being rolled out across East Anglia-based company Caring Homes Group UK, of which Ivy Court is part.

Ms Saunders, dementia training lead for the company, added: “It’s about finding the difficulties that most of us take for granted which dementia patients struggle with.

“For many staff it gives them a ‘lightbulb moment’ and I hope it increases their empathy and ability to understand why and how their mobility is affected.”

Billy McKee, one of the staff-members at Ivy Court, said: “It was hard to do what we were asked.

“It taught me to allow the person time to use the abilities they have.”

SOURCE: Eastern Daily Press. Nicholas Carding

Talbot Park staff stressed out by short-term occupancy

ESTHER ASHBY-COVENTRY

Last updated 16:24, May 30 2016

Admissions at Talbot Park Aged Care Facility were halted recently to allow staff some relief as short-term residents were creating a stressful environment.

A higher number of short-term admissions at Talbot Park saw admissions halted for a few weeks to give staff a break, the South Canterbury District Health Board (SCDHB) was told at its monthly meeting.

There had been no long-term placements since April, SCDHB general manager planning and accountability Margaret Hill told the meeting on Friday, resulting in higher demands on the 68 fulltime equivalent staff members.

Chairman Murray Cleverley praised management teams for "holding it together" during a busy period.

Hill told the meeting admissions had been halted for a few weeks to give staff a break due to the high rate of short-term occupancy. Short-term placements included palliative care, residents waiting for beds in other facilities, and disability respite care.  

"The increase in short-term placements is a combination of limited availability of hospital level residential care beds in South Canterbury and the community awareness of the planned closure of Talbot Park," she wrote in her report.

The decision to close the only South Canterbury aged care facility to offer the highest level of dementia care (D6), was confirmed by the SCDHB in February. It did not see an aged care facility as its core business.

The SCDHB hoped another provider would take over but that had not happened, though some interest had been shown. It has reassured staff, residents and families a number of times it would continue to provide D6 dementia care at Talbot Park until alternative arrangements could be made. 

Occupancy in the last month was 100 per cent for three of the four wings, including D6. The fourth wing had 87 per cent occupancy. At the time Hill's report was written, occupancy was at 63 beds out of 67. To make the facility sustainable occupancy needed to sit at about 95 per cent, Cleverley said.   

"Staff have been under a lot of stress. Management teams have held it together. Well done," he said.

The spike in short-term respite care was not necessarily a trend, Hill said.

SCDHB chief executive Nigel Trainor said the workload had changed at the aged care residential facility.

"At this stage we are monitoring the workload and looking at what else is required if this develops as a trend going forward. We have just begun advertising for a part-time clerical position to help support the increase in administration associated with short-term patients."  

He said if a bed was not available in Timaru then extra home support was provided until a bed was available.

"It is worth remembering that every patient is unique and so there will be no one-size-fits-all answer."

SOURCE: Timaru Herald, Esther Ashby-Coventry 

BLEACH DEATH PROBE

A CARE home that has been strongly criticised for its safety has launched an investigation after an elderly resident died from eating a bleach tablet.

Balmoral Court in Newcastle-upon-Tyne was rated as “requiring improvement” in its latest inspection.

It was found to have not taken “reasonable steps to reduce risks”.

Probe … Balmoral Care Home in Newcastle has launched an investigation after an elderly man ate a bleach tablet and died

But fears over the safety it provides its residents — many of whom suffer from dementia — have grown further after a client ate a highly toxic bleach tablet.

The unnamed man was rushed to hospital on Thursday but later died.

All reasonable steps had not been taken to reduce risks and make sure that people’s care was provided in a safe and hygienic environment.

It is believed he was left unsupervised with access to the deadly cleaning product, Chronicle Live reports.

The Care Home operated by Crown Care Group confirmed the man’s death and said that “appropriate authorities” had been informed.

A spokesman for the 62-room home said: “We are very sad to confirm one of our residents at Balmoral Court has died in hospital after an incident at the home.

“A full investigation is under way and we are liaising closely with the family and the appropriate authorities.”

Toxic … Resident reportedly had access to the deadly cleaning product

He added: “Until that investigation is complete it would be inappropriate to comment further other than to say we are deeply shocked and saddened by this incident.

“We send our sincere condolences to the family.”

SOURCE: The Sun, Neal Baker

Carers don't know what help they're entitled to. Here's how to change that

"When my dad had dementia I realised how little information the NHS and councils give out." 

Sadly this is something that we find happening all too often and one of the real reasons behind our blog and the Social Care Guy Twitter account here

We look at spreading the word, giving opinion and passing on our family care business's 30 years of experience so that you know what to do, who to turn to and relaxing because things are in place to help.

In this sad example, a simple ‘passport’ could make all the difference

"On Christmas Eve last year, my dad died.

"He had Lewy body dementia and a urinary tract infection.

"Days earlier, he had been awarded NHS fast track funding to pay for his care.

"On the same day, my mum and I finally got a call from the local council to say respite care had been sorted out – care we applied for in April.

"The NHS and local authority’s timing seemed surreal, given our two years of stress and worry providing care at home."

So simply knowing about this fast-track funding could save you stress, heartache and worry.

Click here to remain in touch with what happens when you are thrown into the world of care and need a helping hand.
If you find yourself worrying over help and support, then act now and