What can l do if I don’t get on with my carer?

To have someone coming into or living in your home is a huge change and a big decision. It may be something that you know you need but are not comfortable doing, although for many, this option can be successful and much preferred to moving into a care home.

Too often resisting can be the beginning of a pathway into permanent care, one that most people want to avoid!

To be able to share your private space it’s imperative that your carer is professional and respectful and sensitive to your needs and wishes.

You may have had the opportunity to choose your carer/s, particularly if you have a Personal Assistant or Live In carer and hopefully you will have had the opportunity to express the qualities in that person that you would like, but rarely can we get on with everyone and sometimes issues arise.

It helps if you can be clear about the qualities you would like your carer to have, and you may have specific requests for example language or religious, cultural needs. You may find that prompt cards or pictures work better for you, or that you are much better at certain times of the day. It is important that your care provider knows this to avoid unnecessary communication barriers.

In the event, that you are not happy with some aspects of your support then please speak to the carer in the first instance to see if things can be easily resolved. It may just be a case that they are still settling in and need to get to know your routines and how you want things to be done.

Alternatively, you could ask to speak the manager, key worker or social worker, if applicable, to voice your concerns and ask for them to be addressed. If you don’t feel comfortable raising any issues, a family member or advocate may be able to do that for you.

If a resolve can’t be found or request an alternative carer to see if this can work better for you and if not, you may wish to pursue a complaints procedure or source an alternative provider and if so then it will probably be necessary to give the current provider notice.

Care. Choice. Connect are happy to help with advice and sourcing a new care provider if necessary.