Service Definitions
Personal Care Assistants - Will undertake basic personal care tasks such as washing, dressing, putting to bed, toileting, bed making, emptying commode, giving breakfast.
Meal Preparation - Will prepare mid-day meals, tea-time meals, offer conversation, companionship and clear away utensils used in the preparation and serving of the meal.
Night Sleeper (9 pm - 7 am) - The night sleeper service is offered to service users who do not need care and attention during the night, but dislike sleeping alone. Staff ‘sleeping-in’ are ‘on-call’, but do not expect to be disturbed more than once in any one night. In the event of more frequent disturbances, the full night duty rate will be applied.
Night Sitter (9 pm - 7 am) - The night sitter service is offered to service users needing care and attention during the night. Staff are expected to be called periodically during the night. However, should the service users needs dictate that the care worker is called every hour on the hour then the hourly duty rate will be charged.
Home Helps/Domestic Assistance - Will undertake to generally clean the living accommodation of the service user but are advised to undertake only those duties which are generally considered and assessed to be ‘safe’ and free from risk.
Shopping/Collection of Pension - Staff will undertake to collect pension and shop for service users usually on a weekly or fortnightly basis. Care workers are advised not to collect more than 2 weeks pension at a time and for personal safety reasons are not allowed to carry sums of money greater than £200.
Residential Care - Staff can be provided to ‘live-in’ with the service users, usually on a rota system of ‘week-on’ ‘week-off’ basis.
24 Hour Continuous Care - This service is offered where continuous care is required but the service user does not have the facilities to accommodate a ‘live- in’ carer. In which case, a daily ‘three carer’ rota system would be employed.
N.B. Minimum length of visit is one hour.
‘On-Call’ Out of Hours Service
When the office is closed there is an ‘on-call’ manager who is available throughout the night and at the weekend. Should any problems arise during this period the ‘on-call’ contact number is as follows: 07956 375700, if you do not get an immediate response on the mobile please leave a message, including your name and telephone number on the ‘Voice Mail’ facility. Your call will be answered as soon as possible.
Normal Working Hours Service
Staff are available on an hourly, daily and nightly basis in South East & South West London, and Kent. Our normal office hours are 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday. The ‘on-call’ service is available from 5 pm to 9 am Monday to Friday and throughout the weekend.
Agency Fees
Agency fees are payable upon confirmation of a booking and invoices will be sent directly to the service user or their representative four weeks in arrears. Invoices are payable within 14 days of receipt, unless other arrangements have been made and agreed in writing. The invoice will give details of all services received by the service user during the previous 4 weeks and will not be subject to VAT charges.
Verbal acceptance or written confirmation of staff booking commits the service user to give the agency at least 24 hours notice of cancellation. Failure to comply with this condition will result in a charge of one day’s fee to the service user in lieu of notice.
Changes in Agency Fees
Agency fees will be reviewed on an annual basis. All changes will be notified and the revised rates will be sent at the time of notification at least 4 weeks before commencement.
Booking Policy
Booking of staff must only be done through the office. We cannot accept responsibility for the attendance or safety of staff unless arrangements are made through the office, or we are informed of the arrangements made in advance of service commencing. If a service user engages an employee introduced to them by the company and refers that individual to someone else who engages them, without prior knowledge of the company, they will become liable to Harmony for an introduction fee calculated on the basis of 70 times our basic hourly rate.
Meal Provision
Any member of staff on duty in your home for 5 hours or more should be provided with a meal or the provision and facility for the preparation of a meal. This is particularly important when staff are on night duty.
Referrals
Referrals made by the Social Services department are very specific and cannot be deviated from without the consent of the referring care manager. If you feel that the level of services provided does not fully meet your needs and requirements then you are advised to contact your care manager and ask for your situation to be reviewed.
Payment for Service
Referrals made by Social Services will be paid in full by the Social Services department. However, in some cases, clients may be required to make a contribution towards the cost of their care package. If you are required to make such a contribution to the assessing/referring Social Services care manager will inform you and us before the commencement of services. The company will invoice the service user 4 weeks in arrears for such contributions.
Complaints Procedure
Harmony Home Aid Services aim to provide an efficient, flexible and professional service that will hopefully go some way towards meeting service users home care needs. If for any reason you are dissatisfied with any part of our services please let us know so that the situation can be resolved as quickly as possible. To assist with any complaints you may have, a simple to follow complaints procedure leaflet has been prepared and will be explained when the home care supervisor first visits. If for any reason you are dissatisfied with the progress of your complaint you can always refer the matter to the National Care Standards Commission.
Code of Practice (Carers)
Harmony Home Aid Services is a member of the United Kingdom Home Care Association (UKHCA) and as such, all staff are supplied with a copy of the association’s code of practice and are encouraged to closely follow these guidelines. (Should you wish to see a copy please contact the office).
Code of Practice (Service User)
Harmony Home Aid Services, as a member of the UKHCA, follow the broad guidelines laid down by the association on what is expected of every service user in respect of how they can expect to be treated and how they are expected to treat individuals sent into their homes to provide a service.
The areas explored by this code of practice are as follows:
- The right to expect your dignity to be respected;
- The right to decide exactly what services you receive;
- The right to say whom you have in your home;
- The right to have confidential information kept confidential and only to be divulged with your written permission;
- The right to complain;
- The right to expect that you will not be discriminated against on any grounds.
The above is offered as a general guide, a fuller and more comprehensive account will be given to you when you are visited by the home care supervisor or you can contact the office at any time to make arrangements to view.
Withdrawal of Service
In cases of racial abuse, both verbal and physical, or sexual harassment the care worker will be removed immediately, and the referring care manager or representative informed if not immediately, as soon as possible.
If after consideration of all the circumstances of the case it is felt that you are particularly vulnerable and cannot be left unassisted, a replacement carer will be installed in the very short term to enable the care manager or a family member to make alternative care arrangements. If the situation is considered to be particularly volatile it might be considered after consultation with the manager that a more experienced senior member of staff be installed in the short term, in an effort to ensure your ultimate safety, until alternative arrangements can be made.
This policy was last updated by JF on 16/05/2023 v2.0.1
