If I could rate the carers and the office separately, this would be a five-star review stapled to a one-star bin fire. Let’s start with the good: the frontline carers were wonderful. Compassionate, skilled, patient - the kind of people who make you believe in humanity again. If I could hire them directly, I would in a heartbeat. Now for the office. Oh, the office. Imagine paying £40 an hour for administrative chaos. Of that, the carers (I asked them directly) were earning £12.50. The care manager looked me in the eye and told me they were paid £20 - which was, shall we say, a creative interpretation of the truth. So we were effectively handing over £27.50 per hour to fund spelling mistakes, delays, and a customer service style best described as “Kafka meets Carry On.” We asked - repeatedly - for carers not to wear PPE while preparing Mum’s food, since it’s both unhygienic (same gloves/aprons used for personal care!) and environmentally wasteful. We sent evidence. We explained that the rustling aprons distressed her and that the blue gloves frightened her. We were ignored. We also requested that staff speak to Mum in a normal voice. She’s not deaf, and she’s certainly not five years old. Yet Hannah from the office persisted in addressing her in what I can only describe as a “sing-song nursery voice,” like she was auditioning for CBeebies: The Dementia Edition. It was patronising, demeaning, and infuriating. Staff turnover? Astronomical. Every week seemed to bring a new face - which is exactly what you don’t want when you’re paying a premium for “continuity of care.” Communication from the office was appalling: curt, error-riddled emails that read like someone had fed an instruction manual through Google Translate twice. Invoices arrived late. Payments were taken late. When they wanted something, they expected instant compliance. When we needed answers, it was like shouting into a void lined with clipboards. In short: fantastic carers trapped under an incompetent management structure. If you want to pay through the nose for stress, misinformation, and amateur-hour admin, this is the company for you. If you want real value, honesty, or even basic respect for your loved one - look elsewhere.
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