AFTER reading the article in The Journal 'Christine's Care Crisis Call' (April 24) , I felt the need to respond on behalf of all private care agencies.
The management at Hunters Care Line have from the word go always taken seriously the need to employ professional, caring people who will maintain the confidentiality, trust and quality of life for the elderly and young people who we are asked to care for.
It is the responsibility of all care managers to ensure that references are checked, ID badges are authorised, and criminal disclosure forms are signed. This at least will go some way towards ensuring that events such as your article highlights, do not happen again.
Voluntary registration for Domiciliary Care should now become compulsory, as this would give the Social Services Registration Team the authority to reject companies who they felt did not comply fully with the regulations stipulated by Social Services.
Our inspection was conducted in a thorough and professional manner by the Social Service Inspector, who made a point of checking thoroughly our policies, records, management structure, references, and of course we were Police checked.
Whilst I agree that you can never be 100% sure of each individual's character, this would at least go a long way towards ensuring that people who need domiciliary care feel confident and safe with the carer who looks after them.
I cannot believe that an Agency would not be aware of the list of incidents which occurred with Christine over a period of time, as spot checks should be done on a regular basis, without informing the carer concerned.
Whilst agreeing that the events which the article disclosed are appalling, I would emphasise that Hunters and other registered agencies operate a professional company and feel that this article implies this category of events is the norm - it is most definitely not!
I hope that people within the community who feel vulnerable and need help will always either contact their local Social Services or a registered agency and waylay fears of these incidents happening again.
June Lowe
General Manager
Hunters Care Line
Bold Street
Leigh
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article