Allegations of abuse that are damaging our reputation

1. During interviews to appoint staff, more emphasis on measuring the candidate’s attitude to the importance of trust and compassion.

2. Ensure every home care worker has a code of conduct handbook.

3. A greater emphasis on staffs understanding of duty of care during induction and supervision.

4. Monitoring on site the performance of staff.

5. Regular spot checking and random home visits by senior staff to check on people’s satisfaction with the service.

6. Looking for trends in complaints by service users.

7. Ensuring where applicable staff who have committed offences are included on the DBS Disclosure and Barring Service List.Summary These latest revelations of alleged abuse of elderly and vulnerable people who use home care services cast a blight on those hardworking honest and trustworthy home care workers. Providers must take preventative measures to ensure that people who use home care services are protected and safeguarded. The author of this blog believes it would be a mistake to think that this situation has been caused purely through the lack of funding. At the end of the day this is down to bad practice and steps need to be taken and a strategy adopted to prevent it. Albert Cook Albert Cook BA, MA & Fellow Charted Quality Institute Managing Director Bettal Quality Consultancy