care at home

[bobandag16]

anyone aware of changes. how you are effected . you will all grow old and ill. do you care. highland council do not care. [evil]

[Doreen]

Why how has it changed

[pat]

bobandag16
If you could explain what you think the changes are folk would then be able to discuss.
You already appear to blaming Highland Council for everything - have you checked with your surgery, social services, council service point etc on services you wish to access, pensions, child care, road sweeping, bin collections.
If you are ill it is your doctor you need to see not Highland Council.

[bobandag16]

new carees new times shorter hours of care .

[bobandag16]

bobandag16
If you could explain what you think the changes are folk would then be able to discuss.
You already appear to blaming Highland Council for everything - have you checked with your surgery, social services, council service point etc on services you wish to access, pensions, child care, road sweeping, bin collections.
If you are ill it is your doctor you need to see not Highland Council.
not loking for care. have had it for 5 years/ now changes being made with no redress of problems being made. many old people up set . nobody has explained . this will happen take it or leave .carers are not allowed tocomplain .

[poppett]

Whilst I agree the care at home service was in need of improvement there appears to have been little or no thought go into the logistical side of the new shift patterns for the homecarers.

Formerly working 12 days on then 2 days off with regular clients the homecarers are going onto a rolling 4 days on 4 days off with set shift times, ie 7am until 11am or 2pm.

Instead of two regular homecarers the client now has four different new homecarers to get used to coming into their homes, with hours having been cut without consultation with the client via their homecare manager.

On the logistical side it makes sense to me for a homecarer who doesn`t have transport to have all their clients in one area, not dotting about all over the town, passing their opposite number going in the opposite direction at regular intervals.

I honestly believe these changes are the thin end of the wedge with warden services becoming a thing of the past and just the red string to pull in an emergency.

I hope I have explained that ok, and others will follow on with more discussion points.

[pat]

Visit your newly elected MSPs in a nice friendly manner tell them what your problems are and they will usually see what can be done.
Make an appointment for the next surgery - usually advertised in the local paper and in various places around or make an appointment for the MSP to visit or make a phone call to the office where someone extremely helpful will usually take information to pass on to MSP and you will be kept informed as to the outcome.
I had a problem with Scottish Water but dealt with MSPs office in Wick as this was a list MSP covering Western Isles - extremely helpful and informative, did a lot of work which enabled my problem to be dealt with and cleared up rapidly.

[poppett]

Mr Gibson has an email waiting for him in his inbox!

Unfortunately it is too late for a u turn as staff have already had to leave who couldn`t work to the new shift patterns and the homecare office staff have recently changed too.... smacks a bit of "new brooms sweep clean".

Some consultation with people who understand the problems involved would have been nice and polite, not just a letter stating the final decision.

Cutting care hours is not always the right decision and before everyone jumps up saying the homecare service has to be run like a business, the government pay a reasonable rate per capita for elder care at home to run the service. I do not think the clients should be the one to suffer when costs have to be cut.

Our elders should be respected and their wishes listened to, not be treated worse than prisoners.

[bagpuss]

The Home carers are good people- but their administrators often don't pick up on the fact that they might be the only person an old or vulnerable person sees in the course of a day. Changes should be gradual- not sudden.

My good friend nursed a dying parent who was terrified of hospitals- but said she could not have done so without the Home carer- who was compassionate and understanding- way beyond the call of duty

[poppett]

Bagpuss, I am in no way knocking the homecarers but it is the old story of too many chiefs and not enough indians and sadly the chiefs don`t always come from a hands on background with any understanding of the needs of the elderly.

I defy any fit, active, healthy person to be woken from a tablet induced sleep to be given half an hour to get up, have a shower, dry themselves or be dried, cream applied where needed, dressed, breakfast consumed and tablets taken without becoming stressed. The answer to this seems to be not to wash or shower daily, but in some instances the creams which stop skin from breaking down have to be washed off before the next lot of cream is applied to save the skin from burning, so a daily shower is a must for medical reasons, not just a whim.

[bobandag16]

over the years i have had dozen of different carers many beyond there remit. the is poor top manage ment no understanding of day to day needs. theory no practice.