Today I have a second message for our new Prime Minister: the Quality Statements for Home Care Workers from NICE do not go far enough:

List of quality statements

Statement 1. Older people using home care services have a home care plan that identifies how their personal priorities and outcomes will be met.

Statement 2. Older people using home care services have a home care plan that identifies how their home care provider will respond to missed or late visits.

Statement 3. Older people using home care services receive care from a consistent team of home care workers who are familiar with their needs.

Statement 4. Older people using home care services have visits of at least 30 minutes except when short visits for specific tasks or checks have been agreed as part of a wider package of support.

Statement 5. Older people using home care services have a review of the outcomes of their home care plan within 6 weeks of starting to use the service and then at least annually.

Statement 6. Home care providers have practice-based supervision discussions with home care workers at least every 3 months.

Have you any idea Theresa of the constant demands that Care Workers face?  They never know what they will find when they open the door of a client.  When they are dealing with dementia they are stretched to the limit with presentation that can change at the drop of a hat.

How on earth do we expect carers to care for the most vulnerable members of our society with as little as one weeks training and supervision every three months?

How do we expect to retain staff on the living wage, zero hour contacts, no time for travelling between calls and no in-service training?

Just one or two things for one of your new Ministers or Jeremy Hunt to consider, Teresa.

I will post news of developments here a little later.