Annoyed With Care Cover!

[pixie373]

You may know, my sister and i do our own homecare business. We take off 2 weeks a year to take the children away in the summer. Because we obviously can't leave people in the lurch, we ask them if they want to arrange their own, or we cover it, charge as usual and pay the cover, so clients don't have extra bills and people to deal with.
We asked Carer friends as much as possible, but of course, they have their own jobs, so we covered the rest with a very big, well-known Agency.
They have missed loads of calls, refused to change a bed ("I've only been booked for 15 mins". And the longest they have stayed at a house, is 15 minutes. We booked them for an hour. Now the invoices are coming through and they are trying to charge for an hour care, when they have sent someone for 15 minutes.
Sorry, bit of a rant, but taking the p!

[naomi24]

Pixie, if they have to call from the house, then I'd certainly ask for that printout. The companies must provide some sort of evidence that what they're charging you is accurate. Good luck!

[pixie373]

Thank you. The company will have a printout, although they don't automatically include it with the bill. But i will ask for it. Thanks x

[bednobs]

the problem is that most agencies charge by the hour or part thereof. So even if they show they were only there for a minute when they should have been an hour, your bill wont be any less.
On the plus side, it makes your company look wonderful in comparison with your clients

[pixie373]

Yes, i suppose so, although that wasn't quite the intention. This agencies minimum call is 15 mins, so they should be able to charge that. It does make it difficult for us to know what to charge for while we were away. Our minimum call is half hour (but we do stay at least half an hour).

[Rosetta]

I suspect Pixie that their lack of agreed service provision will be difficult to prove evidentially and that the b's will get away with it. Really hope you can get better honest cover next year. If the service is just housework would your service users agree to a week off, and alternate the cover accordingly. Obviously if its personal care or meals this is not an option. Have you any casuals on your books who could cover?

[pixie373]

It is personal care and meals mainly, some shopping and social and we do housework to make up any spare time. We had one who chose to wait for us to get back as it's more a social call. We will have to concentrate on friends that are also carers, i think. We have never had problems with them. It is just that they all work, too, so it's difficult for them cover everything. Also, because care needs can change quite quickly, we can't cover far in advance.
thanks, Rosetta. Still waiting for reply to my e-mail.

[Rosetta]

Its difficult Pixie, there isn't this huge bank of carers waiting in the wings, despite what politicians might say. I have no real practical solutions though, the only thing is to have a bank of casuals, maybe mums, who could act as stand ins. Problem is though you want them during school holidays which will be difficult to recruit. I don't envy you, nigh on impossible to solve

[pixie373]

Thanks Rosetta. I think my sister and i will have to have a serious think for next year. I think, like you said, if we can increase the number of casual helpers over the year, we will have more chance of being able to cover everyone that way. It is also more affordable, as the Agency is more expensive than us, slightly, so we lose out on all their calls. Which wouldn't matter if they were doing the work!

[pixie373]

Just an update. They still haven't answered our e-mail. But got three more invoices through, all wrong. They sent two carers for half hour to one place (they stayed 20 mins) instead of one carer for an hour. Fair enough, but they are charging for two carers, an hour each. They have doubled the time on another client and tripled the time on the third. Phone call to make, this afternoon!