Lowe admits home care given to centenarian was unacceptable

SOCIAL work boss Andrew Lowe has acknowledged that the home care service provided by Scottish Borders Council to a 101-year-old Kelso woman “has not been acceptable”.

In a letter, printed in the Southern Reporter, Mr Lowe says he will be contacting the woman’s son-in-law – retired personnel executive Colin McGrath – to discuss how to respond to her “unique circumstances” and deliver the home care support she needs.

Mr McGrath, in a letter to the editor last week (October 15), revealed that his elderly relative had received care from 23 different carers, at various times, since SBC began a new team-based shift system for its staff in May.

He said clients such as his mother-in-law had lost the stability and consistency of care previously provided and claimed that was also what carers wanted.

The shift system and an increased share of council care hours going to private providers have already been implemented and thus do not form part of the Transforming Older Peoples Services (TOPS) consultation which ended on October 5, although the move away from residential homes to care in one’s own home is fundamental to the cost-cutting proposals.

Mr Lowe’s letter today recognises that a period of change in home care services, provided by both the council and private companies, “has caused greater instability than we would have wished in some areas of the Borders”.

But Mr McGrath believes the centenarian’s experience is far from unique and has only been mitigated by the fact that she does not live alone.

“Most older clients do live alone and are stoical, which makes them less likely to rock the boat and complain … it is important Mr Lowe does not get the impression this is an isolated case or is confined only to the Kelso area – it is not.”

Mr McGrath, a former personnel director with the Stakis hotel group, revealed that on September 30 he had written a four-page letter to Mr Lowe, detailing the shortcomings of the SBC shift system and its impact on his mother-in-law.

He cited an incident on Sunday, September 27, when the duty social worker telephoned to say no morning cover was available as the carer had called in sick, leaving her 10 clients without cover.

“This should never happen,” said Mr McGrath. “It must be stressed my mother-in-law had me and my wife in attendance, so we informed the social worker we could manage. My great concern was for the others, most of whom would have no-one to help them.

“The council must identify those carers who for personal, family or domestic reasons prefer to work weekends, ensuring this information is regularly updated.

“It is often difficult for carers to cover both weekdays and weekends and this results in absenteeism.”

Mr McGrath said clients’ needs were being sacrificed under the shift system.

“Minor things, such as how they like their tea or coffee, how they like their food presented for easy eating and how much water they like in their bath may seem trivial, but they are major in the minds of the client.

“This vital information is known by the regular carers, but as clients are visited by so many different carers, how can the carers be expected to know these little needs and how can the rapport which has been established over the years possibly continue?”

And Mr McGrath called for split shifts to be abandoned.

“A number of carers start at 7am and finish at 10pm with unpaid breaks.

“In the hotel business, I had a similar problem where staff, mainly female, had to start work to provide breakfasts, go home and come back for lunches, then go home again and return for dinners.

“This mirrors the situation with the council carers who, understandably, do not like these shifts. In the hotels, we noted their performance deteriorated and there were domestic difficulties resulting in a high labour turnover, so we introduced a straight shift system, reversing the negative employment trends, giving better customer care and saving the company money.”

Mr McGrath feels levels and quality of care must be taken into account in the TOPS review, given that it is underpinned by a shift towards more care being delivered at home rather than in an institutionalised environment.

Mr Lowe said Mr McGrath’s views, along with those expressed at a series of engagement meetings and other written submissions, were currently being analysed before finalised proposals were presented to SBC on December 17.

“While it is too early to give a definitive position, my early sense is that there has been considerable support for the headline proposals, but we will be making some changes of detail as a result of this [consultation] process,” added Mr Lowe.