Choosing a care agency to get a break

 Breaks and respite or the opportunity to shorten days by having someone take care of your caree whilst your doing something else is essential to an unpaid carer but also to the caree, sometimes a break is good mentally for you both.

Whether you pay privately or go through social care for extra help you're still left with trying to work out if the care agency is suitable.   How do you go about chosing an agency who will essentially have your caree and loved ones life in their hands?  

If I hadn't got information about care through experience working in the industry, training in the industry and through family members who recived care in the past I would start by looking at the obvious...CQC grades as that will show that the agency is a good one.  However like with OFSTED inspections it just reveals that the company has their paper work in order and that CQC are unaware of any serious complaints.

These days what I look for in a care agency has changed, and due to past experiences I personally wouldn't be leaving any agency alone in the house with my caree however I am still far more rigerous in checking the quality of the staff.  The following things are what I look for:

• Staff who have a deep understanding of disabilities
• Staff who can listen and absorb information
• Staff who are willing to adapt a routine to suit the individual needs of the person
• Staff who are very thorough in their hygiene e.g. ppe
• Staff who have exceptionally high standards of infection control and knowledge and understanding of barrier nursing
• Staff who are allergy aware. 
• Staff who have a thorough knowledge of deaf awareness and the consequences of inappropriate communication

Very little of these will ever occur on a CQC report because they will note gloves are being worn problem sovled.  This does NOT take into account that infections can still spread unless you are changing your gloves between areas.  

Both myself and my caree have hearing loss and it's vital that communicaton is done in the right way.  My main concern is that staff are not aware that untreated hearing loss and inappropriate communication can increase the risk of dementia considerably.  For this reason I prioritise the way in which staff would communicate on my list of what to look for.

In the past it's been impossible and I've found myself feeling frustrated, upset and very anxious about the visits.  Deaf Anxiety is something I struggle a lot with so it's important to me to keep that anxiety under control to aid my physical health {prolonged anxiety can lead to hypertension} as well as my mental health and that of my caree.

We have just dipped our toes into the waters of a new care agency after a 2 year/ 2.5 year break.  I made sure that social care told the agency about the hearing loss but that didn't work I still recieved a phone call that I then had to get someone to return because I had missed key information.

I'm not big on name and shame but in the spirit of previous posts and sharing deaf friendly companies and those companies who are NOT deaf friendly to help the D/d deaf community I am going to name them.  Whilst this doesn't reflect on the rest of their skills it does reflect on the fact that staff are inadequately trained and subsequently are putting clients at an increased risk of dementia if they have hearing loss, prolonged serious ear infections that can lead to brain infections.  

HOME LIFE CARE: is the company we are currently using and we deal with the EXETER office.  Other branches may be different!

Having had someone return the call for me the next half a dozen or so pieces of communication were by email which made things a lot easier.  However, that did not last..one carer mumbled her way through the visit.  I chose to bide my time with this as it was her first visit and obviously there are nerves at meeting new clients for the first time, taking on a new routine and meeting client expectations.  

Unfortunately this was followed up with another carer who got lost and phoned me.  Luckily I had other people in the property who could hear and IAt this point I admit I had had more than enough and began the complaint procedure.  

I emailed the office staff and informed them they would now need to rectify the mumbling, change all communication to email or text only and provide clear masks. There are medical grade clear masks and I have decided they are going to be used because I'm tired of accommodating hearing people who won't make the same accommodations for me or my caree.

As per my predictions there was the usual platitudes and how things will change now but despite my request on updating me on how they were progressing with I've heard nothing.  No surprise really in my experience the hope is I have moaned and will shut up and go away that way they won't have to make the reasonable adjustments the disability act says is required.  

In situations like this I've been in the position where I have done exactly that...I've shut up and gone away and continued to pander to hearing people who are too lazy to educate themselves, those who work for them and make the effort to communicate effectively but I've decided that is no longer going to happen and as such I have tips for what to do in that situation.

• Always put concerns in writing, if you have hearing support or use relay the temptation is to phone but this means there is no evidence of what happened during the call.  Email is perfect you have all the records you need from the time and date sent to the content of the email.
• Set a time schedule in which you want the complaint to be dealt with in but always make sure it's a realistic deadline...for example an update on how they are dealing with the complaint within 1 week but 3 weeks or a month for those things to be implemented.
• Don't be afraid to report to CQC, recently they have asked for experience of the care industry from D/deaf users so take advantage and highlight the good and bad. That does NOT mean you cannot report to them at any other time because you can.  Do this and they will investigate.
• Contact your GP, you might not get anywhere but there will be records of your contact, let them know you are struggling mentally so they can if appropriate refer to the relevant services but also GP's can contact both social care and care agencies or CQC to register complaints. They are also known as expert witnesses and should it be needed this will support your case that the care agencies are not meeting the minimum requirements.
• Contact the police, certain things like putting someone at physical risk because they cannot hear what is said on a regular basis is abuse...it's neglect and physical abuse.  A criminal charge can be brought against those involved.  This will not only prevent it happening to you and your caree but to others as well.
• Don't be afraid to make the information about the difficulties you are having public, if you talk to other carers in your area via carers uk forum or at local peer support groups you may find others have similar experiences and can support your complaint too as well as offering emotional support.
• Don't ever give up, keep pestering, keep emailing the care companies, social care and CQC until things change and you get the care you are entitled to and deserve.  Just remember however impatient you are don't be tempted to follow up before the time frame you have set.

A few tips of what to include when complaining:

1. Time and Dates
2. The names of those involved
3. As much detail as possible including precisley which person mumbles, which person shouts etc
4. A reasonable time frame for them to respond to your complaint
5. Suggestions of what can be done to rectify your complaint...in my case I included links to examples of medical grade clear masks that can be bought privately and from medical suppliers, how to steralise reusable ones
6. Don't be afraid to remind them that disability act states by law reasonable adjustments MUST be made...include in your email what reasonable adjustments you and your caree as unique people require.
7. If possible and you have the information or can ask the D/deaf community or the caring community include information on where training can be found on the issues you have raised.

I hope this helps even one person because it's taken me a very long time to get to the point where I am confident in advocating for mine and others needs.  

This wasn't going to be my original post but two weeks or more ago blogger lost half the content of the post I was writing so I abandoned it and wrote this instead because this is relevant right now.

I appreciate it's been a long time since I posted but as all carers know there are times when it's just not possible to sit and write blog posts.  Also as any person with hearing loss will tell you the effort of communicating is exhausting and sometimes we need to prioritise down time.  Don't feel bad about it, it's just what life is for us and that should be embraced.