Here’s a tricky situation that many carers find themselves in. The answer is not as simple as you may think, so it’s worth looking a little deeper at this topic.

When could you be in this situation?

There are several times when this can happen. Your agency has strict regulations laid down which they expect you to follow. A classic example is when moving your client.

At any training you will have been taught that carers do not lift clients. We move them from one place to another. There should be no lifting involved as this can be dangerous to your client. It can also be harmful to you. Should you put your back out while lifting a client (even a light one) you may find that you cannot work because of this injury.

Bearing this in mind, you arrive at your new client to find that there is no hoisting mechanism in place and your client simply cannot be moved without a little intervention from you and the family.

The family have worked out a strategy whereby you give mom a little ‘heave ho’ to help her out of the chair. No one gets hurt and once mom is up, she tootles off to breakfast with you behind her, hands on hips in case she falls backwards. Think this doesn’t happen? It happens all the time!

So, what’s the answer?

If you ever come across this situation you need to discuss it with your agency before you do anything else. You must voice your concerns about it before an accident happens. Your agency will do one of two things.

They will contact the family and insist that a hoist of some sort is put in place. They may recommend that you talk to the family and ask for a hoist.

If your agency has directly employed you, they will contact the family and set the wheels in motion. If they are a placement agency, they will leave it up to you to discuss with family.

Having discussed this with the family you may find that the first reaction is something along the lines that the ‘previous carers have no problem with this, so why do you?’ And this is where your troubles start.

Having put the cat among the pigeons, so to speak, you are now the troublemaker in many cases. Not only do you not want to heave mom up, you also want to add a hoist to the household. This requires visits from the OT and (even though it may be free) means that there is a certain amount of disruption to the daily life.

Additionally, everyone who plans to use it needs to be shown how. So much easier to simply lift mom up, isn’t it?

The outcome

This depends on the family and how sympathetic they are to change. They may agree with you when you state your case. Then again, they may not.

If the family agree with you and you do manage to get a hoist put in place, consider yourself to be very lucky and be pleased that you have done a good job.

What often happens is that the family and you, or the family and your agency will butt heads. They will be locked at the horns with neither party conceding. The agency is in the right because it all comes down to safety – both the client and yours. Family, unfortunately, may not see it this way.

Often the outcome will be that your agency terminates their contract with your client and walks away from a situation which they do not agree with. The family may also end your contract and not ask you to come back again.

Unfortunately, this is always a no-win situation. As long as you have reported it to your agency or discussed it with the family, if they do not agree to change for the reason of safety, you should readily walk away from the placement. It will never get any better and sooner or later your client will fall – or worse – be dropped. Don’t let it be you that drops her because you went against your own training.

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