Top Carer Quits In ‘Nit-Picking’ Row

AN AMMANFORD carer who recently scooped the county’s Volunteer of the Year award has been driven out by the relentless nit-picking’of Assembly care inspectors.

Dorothy MacDonald, who runs a flagship Glanaman home to give carers for dementia sufferers a break, says the constant interference of Care Standards is forcing her to leave the job she loves.

The final straw, she claims, arrived at the weekend when a full-time carer was forced to cancel her holiday – losing £1,300 in the process – the day before she was due to go, because care inspectors had stopped her father from staying at the home.

They said that staff at Hafan Croeso, in Heol Aman, would not have been able to evacuate him quickly enough in an emergency – a claim refuted by Mrs MacDonald.

“That is simply not true, because we had the client here six weeks earlier and it was fine,” she said.

“We also carried out a risk assessment and it was perfectly fine. Care Standards are constantly nit-picking and throwing obstacles in our path.

“We are running a flagship care home,which has been labelled the best in the county, and our staff are all experienced enough to know what is right and wrong.

“Care Standards are supposed to be there to help us, but instead they seem to be targeting us all the time.”

Mrs MacDonald, who has run Amman Valley Dementia Carers Support Group for eight years, says the situation has left her with no alternative but to walk away.

“People who know me know that there is no way I would accept clients if it was not suitable,” she slammed.

The carer concerned, who did not want to be named, said she was devastated by Care Standards’ “baffling” decision, which meant missing out on a trip to Sardinia.

“My father was there six weeks ago and we were more than happy with the service,” she said. “Nothing has changed.

“The home was perfectly suited to him and I questioned Care Standards why they hadn’t closed the home if it was that bad, but they couldn’t answer me.

“We only found out the day before we were going. They said they had found a place in Llandovery for my dad. But he is not a piece of meat that can just be dumped anywhere.”

Care Standards had not commented when we went to press.