Can care agencies just cancel my sons care

[Tracidu]

Hi . My Son has just started back at his daycare Centre for 2 days a week , he hasn't had any support since the first lock down 2020

He can not attend this daycare unless he has one to one support which is supplied from an care agency set up by a social worker .

They contacted me last week to say they could not support my son for his 2days this week due to annual leave , they gave no apology just took it for granted it was ok to do this ? My Son was so happy to be back in daycare last week , is it right that I should feel so upset with this situation , I dont want to sound unreasonable but it's been such a hard 18months with people's uncaring attitude towards learning disabilities. I am probably being over sensitive about him being letdown again and the agency not thinking it was a problem . I am just asking if anyone would feel the same ?

[Jofisher]

You have every right to be upset, sadly this can happen and your at the mercy of the agencies unless you get a health budget and employ people yourself but even so you will still get let down from time to time by illness annual leave etc etc. I used to run an agency that provided community staff to people like yourselves and I was well aware how important it was for you to get this support and not to be let down. Unfortunately I was often let down by some of the staff for one reason or another and often at short notice so then I had to be the one to call and say we couldn’t help today it was awful. I didn’t last long in that job as I couldn’t stand letting people down like that. I’m so sorry your going through this and your poor son. I can only imagine how hard it’s been for you and for him. I hope the staff return soon and they can resume their service. All the best

[Tracidu in reply to Jofisher]

Thankyou for your reply , it's been a tough year , I do understand , I suppose its just that he only had one week of getting back to some sort of normality and he was let down again so soon , I was led to believe from this agency they would always have two support workers in place for my son incase one couldnt support him ? but they both have gone on annual leave at the same time , so it got to me I suppose ? It was just a matter of fact attitude from the agency is if it didn't matter . I have been caring for 36 years , 4 on my own as my husband died i have always fought for my son ,

Thanks again for listening , .

[Jofisher in reply to Tracidu]

Bless you I’m so sorry you are having to deal with all this especially on your own now as well. I hope your able to get this sorted and I’m sure the agency didn’t like letting you down but they’re as the mercy of their staff and everything else that going on at the moment.

[LDAutie]

hi Tracidu i am with you on this one,and you are not being over sensitive!

have you asked social services whether they will pay for a specialist LD and/or autism service to carry out outreach support for your son instead of using agencies? if they say they dont have the funding,ask thhem to put it out to tender as agencies cost them more than specialist outreach does, it makes no sense why theyre using agency-the agency gets a lot of it but the staff still get rubbish wages.

i know in certin parts of the country mencap have a outreach staff service, i know of this as i have asked mencap about it in manchester but they dont here sadly....the national autistic society used to have an amazing nationwide outreach service but they had to remove it (i can only half remember why they removed it as i used to be close to a higher up manager within the NAS as she had fought to get me removed from an abusive residential home).

one of the things you need to watch out for not all agencies make staff go on all the different training courses needed for adults with autism,LD,complex needs etc (such as challenging behavior, breakaway techniqes, STOMP,learning disability, autism, epilepsy, PMLD,person centred planning, health and safety,manual handling, mental health etc),and some even make the staff pay out of their own pocket for all the training so not surprising as theyre paid not very much anyway not all agency staff will do training, only the minimum which depends on the agency-i only know this as my sister used to be a support staff and one agency in bolton tried conning her out of her money for the basic training and itd only be given back after a year of working for them-she quickly got out of that one.

if i was you i woud demand your son gets a outreach staff from a learning disability service to cover his 1-1,as woud be contracted and have to make arangements if someone is ill/on holiday etc,as far as i know agencies can just cancel,so can bank staff who are part of a service.

my day centre provides fully trained staff from their own team for all of us who are 1-1/2-1, the care package funding a person gets is transfered to the day centre to pay for it.

[49Twister]

I have said this before I would feel exactly the same. Really hard for both of you and so unfair. I do know (in Newcastle) so many people have left the care sector due to the demands of the job which is having a catastrophic effect on our adult children. My son is in supported living and the number of staff who have left is unreal!! This is not making excuses for your situation and I absolutely understand how difficult life has been for you both in these terrible circumstances. I don’t know if we’ll ever recover from this. Take care and hopefully he won’t be let down again, hope you’ve expressed this to the agency.

[Tracidu in reply to 49Twister]

Thankyou for your reply ,

I havnt expressed this to the agency but the person that contacted me who used to support my son but was transferred to office work knew I wasn't happy. I am a bit wary of complaining as you said care staff are leaving the profession so I find there is a take it or leave it attitude , I dont want my son to be without support . The social worker that came for a financial assessment who does not live in my area , she was contracted in , caused a lot of problems with the agency my son was with for 12 years , they were very good and never let him down , they were upset to stop working with my son but couldn't expect the social workers argument about transport money , so the ss found the agency he is with now , ironically they charge more ? It was a total mess for a month with no support so this is the reason I try not to rock the boat too much ,

I don't suppose things will ever be perfect but it's good to know there is somewere we can have a rant about things , hope your son gets the best support for his future thanks again for listening ,

[Carol710 in reply to Tracidu]

Also you would have thought they would let you know about them taking the annual leave for they have to book there dates and let them inform you in plenty of time to get backup in place 😡

[Tracidu in reply to Carol710]

Thankyou, Yes the company let me know 5 days before that he couldnt be supported . I also thought annual leave was booked earlier. The training centre wasn't too impressed either . I have spoke to the care company and fingers crossed its OK for next week .

I know it was just one week but I think of all the let downs we have had with support in the last 18months it just got to me . I read all the problems on here and feel for anyone going through a tough time with authorities or the feeling of being overwhelmed at times with caring . Thankyou for all your replies

[Carol710 in reply to Tracidu]

I agree with you there under pressure to but saying that ,there is no excuse not to give you more notice when they were taking a break so to give you time to get help in place ,I think its a disgrace the way you are treated knowing you are in the Need of help ,I would say to them 5 days notice wasn't long enough for me to sort things out so next time can you let me know when you can not support me with help ,this should not happen they are suppose to Care.....Otherwise why would they be giving you Help in the first place ,hope you get sorted out and all the Best in the Future xx.

[Tracidu in reply to Carol710]

Thankyou for your reply , I will be ready for them next time. ...The trouble is I have nowere else to turn too when they let him down as the place that he attends the carers have to be inducted onto the site , it's a farm, so this is why he has 2 as both are inducted, if one let's him down the other can go there ...., the place he attends are never happy if they have to spend the time inducting new people , my son is the only one up there that has to have 1to1 support.

It's all a minefield . I Just hope things improve soon for all of LD people and thier carers and dont get worse as some people I have read in the media are predicting . .

[Carol710 in reply to Tracidu]

It is getting harder to get support and think with COVID-19 on the go doesn’t help matters also, I’m told you can get help if there needs aren’t being met on the Words of Law ,which is the last resort you want to take.It’s a Disgrace the way these young vulnerable people are being Treated ..Hope things get better for your son ❤️

[Tracidu in reply to Carol710]

Thankyou , It is definitely a disgrace what's happening to a lot of LD adults , I don't want to rock the boat with the daycentre so I'm putting up with the one day they are offering him for now. Winter is coming so just hope they don't shut down again 😒 they make thier own rules up .

[Sunshinelilly]

Hi Tracidu I have a daugher who is 29 now and i employ my own PA is that a Option for you ? Its through Direct Payments that was he could go anywhere on them days rather a day center ?

[Tracidu in reply to Sunshinelilly]

Thankyou sunshinelilly for your reply , since posting the question my sons day centres are opening up a bit more now , the only yhing that lets him down is the carers which are employed through a different agency to support him , due to the amount of staff shortages , they let us down at the last minute when he is up early and i have showered and dressed him ect to go out ? I struggle to get PA,s in our area , he recieves a direct payment which I use for respite care which helps a lot as I am on my own and the break is appreciated. Thanks again for your reply , take care