Once you are finished your initial training with an agency, they will furnish you with some sort of identification. You will need to produce this when you arrive at your placement. It is an important item, and you may want to take a copy of it in case you misplace it.
Why is this important?
Your ID card tells the client and family that you are who you say you are. It lets them know the agency you work for and assures them that you are ‘the real person’ as it will have a picture of you on it.
It is a sad fact that there are many cases of fraud involving live-carers who work at vulnerable adults. It is not unheard of for a ‘carer’ to arrive and work for a set amount of time, only to be found that she is not in fact the genuine carer, but rather someone working illegally.
There are unfortunately unscrupulous carers around who will place a friend in a position, pay them half the fee and keep the other half for themselves, thus earning extra money while working at another placement.
You don’t believe that this happens? Believe it, it does.
Unless the family, client or outgoing carer insists on asking for identification, it is very easy to slip in ‘under the fence, so to speak. This is particularly true if the placement is a relatively easy one with no involved moving and placing of the client.
A dishonest person may brief a friend on the ins and outs of live-in care and then have them work at the placement while they take on a private client. Neither the agency or the private client will discuss anything with each other, and the secret may be safe.
What should you do?
It is vital that you ask for identification, and even more important if you do not know the incoming carer. You may well not ask if the incoming carer is well-known to you and the client as it is less likely that an imposter will arrive.
However, in situations where the genuine live-in carer has never been before, who would know if someone else arrived?
What if they do not have ID?
If you do not know the incoming carer and she cannot produce the relevant ID card you should call your agency at once.
You should not let her have any access to the house, she should not be allowed to unpack and see the client, her room or any of the paperwork pertaining to your client.
Until she has produced identification, or the agency/family have verified to you that she is genuine, you should treat her as an imposter and possibly a fraud. Remember that your client is a vulnerable adult and will need to be left alone with the incoming carer.
Never accept excuses such as she has forgotten her Id at home or lost it along the way. Neither accept that the agency has not posted it to her because they will make sure that they post it early to avoid incidents like this.
Final thoughts
There should never be any doubt about the incoming carer and if you do have any you must query it with your agency or family.
Once you have left your client, the incoming carer will have access to everything pertaining to your client and her finances. Make sure she is the genuine thing before letting her in.
This may seem a little ‘overkill’ but in this instance it is better to be safe than sorry.
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