How Care Workers Can Help People To Manage Their Money

Care workers trusted to handle money belonging to the people they care for must keep scrupulous records. A bulletin published by social care watchdog the Commission for Social Care Inspection shows that, while many services have improved the way they handle people’s money, there are examples of bad practice.

These include money being ‘kept in tins’ rather than in bank accounts, care home residents’ money being lent to other residents without their knowledge or consent, and accounts not being audited.

The proportion of care homes for older people meeting national minimum standards on helping people to look after their money increased from 74 per cent to 88% between 2003 and 2006. However, home care agencies achieved a much smaller increase, from 66% in 2005 – the first full year they were inspected – to 74% last year.

So while there has been improvement all round, home care agencies are now only at the level that care homes passed three years earlier. The CSCI plans to meet representative bodies of the home care agencies to agree plans for further improvement.

CSCI Chief Inspector Paul Snell said: “It is important for all care services to have proper systems in place when dealing with people’s money. At best, mishandling or misusing someone else’s money is a form of abuse, and at worst it is a criminal offence that could lead to prosecution for fraud or theft.

“Some people do need help to manage their money, but this support should not override their right to access their money and decide how to spend it. There has been improvement across the board and I congratulate those care services and care workers that have really tackled this issue.  

“However, there is still more to be done.  It is quite tempting for care workers, when someone is dependent on their help, and perhaps cannot communicate very well, to drift into making decisions on their behalf.  But they must always check that they are spending the money according to the wishes of the person to whom that money belongs.”

In its bulletin published today – In safe keeping: Supporting people who use regulated care services with their finances – CSCI says that, of the services that failed to meet the standards, major shortcomings were found in only 3% of home care agencies and 2% of care homes for older people. 

Those with major shortfalls needed to do more to ensure that care workers kept proper records of transactions that they carried out on behalf of their clients; and they should give people more support to be involved as much as possible in deciding how their money was spent.