Things are not as I was told by my agency
Before you arrive at your placement you should be in possession of a write-up describing the client you are going to. You should know their age, personalities, and any relevant information beforehand.
Unfortunately, this is not always the case. While there are some agencies who send a representative to the clients every few months, or even weeks, there are others who never do this. All the information you are given has originated from a telephone call to set up the client on their records and supply a live-in carer.
The information you receive before you arrive may not only be out of date, but in some cases, completely wrong. This can be embarrassing, to say the least. It can also be the cause not much upset if you say the wrong things.
One such incident happened recently. On the information sheet the carer read that the lady client had a lovely old cat, and a sister who visited every Wednesday. It sounded perfect. On arrival, there was no sign of the cat.
Fortunately, the carer had the good sense to ask the outgoing carer where the cat was, and if the sister was arriving the next day as planned. She was told that the cat had died some weeks ago, and so had the sister. Think how upset the lady would have been if the carer had asked her these questions!
The moral of the story is that in many cases the agency only passes on to you the information they have on record. They genuinely do not know if the cat or sister has died unless you let them know.
This goes a step further onto things which involve safety. Your agency may have told you your client is ‘completely mobile’. This may have been the case several weeks ago, but things change, sometimes very quickly, and not always for the better.
The reason that you did not know how bad the situation was is due to the fact that previous carers did not tell the agency. Letting them know is not only for your own protection but also for the next carer. If the carer’s bedroom has recently been moved to the second floor, with many stairs, it would be fair for the agency to know, so that they don’t send a carer who has knee issues and cannot climb too many stairs.
If you find yourself in the situation where things are simply not what you have been told, you should first call your agency to inform them. This is particularly important in any safety issues. They will advise you if you need to take matters further and call for the GP or District Nurse to intervene.
If things are not the same as you have been told, make sure that you put your thoughts and findings down in writing. Send an email documenting all that is not as it appeared.
Your agency will appreciate if you let them know of anything which changes, even down to small things such as the death of an animal, because it may save the next carer from ‘putting their foot into their mouth’, and also give the agency a chance to put a better care plan into place.
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