Absolute Care

There was no out of hours support, the phone redirected and was only answered on one occasion. Carers assumed incorrectly that that the person that they had been instructed to care for, who was actually chair bound, could get up to get to get themselves food & drink, which was not true, however, if they had a visitor, the visitor would always get them a drink, and this sometimes was as an alcoholic drink. People with limited mobility should not be judged and the reason why a person needs carers is because of limited mobility. The visits times were so variable that it caused the person distress, and of course they were annoyed at times due to being left, they are vulnerable. It never helped because when they called the service for an up-date, they rarely got through.

On one occasion, my friend was given a heated meal which was still cold in the middle. This is absolutely ridiculous and very dangerous. My friend is often left from 7.45 am until 2pm without any carer coming near her. She needs help to use the commode. On at least two occasions the next carer came at 3pm, 30 minutes after the second visit had finished. Her curtains are then closed and often the light is not turned on so she has to sit in the dark until her final carer comes. A few carers go out of their way to help her, but the timings of visits are appalling.