Care Outlook Reviews 

The care being provided by the carer covering for her my mum’s regular carer is far from caring.
The carer’s 3 attendances should be approximately 3 hours apart. I can only visit on Saturday’s and on my visit day the carer’s 1st & 2nd attendances were 2 hours apart and the 2nd & 3rd were six hours apart!
When I confronted the carer about the attendance times her response was ‘to be honest I didn’t even look at the timetable’.
My mum has Alzheimer’s, multiple chronic diseases including heart failure and is prone to falling. A 6 hour lapse between visits is DANGEROUS & UNACCEPTABLE!
I also asked the carer to call me when she attended but she didn’t.
I emailed the manager about the above and am expecting be told the carers are not obligated to call family members but when my mum takes the phone off the receiver (which she did on Sunday) the carer is the only way I can contact my mum and as the cater has a duty of care, she should have called me, especially as she doesn’t know my mum.

Used this firm (via their West Wickham office) for my mother for several weeks now. The carers are mostly very nice. The problem is management and communication.

Weekdays are fine, but the service breaks down at weekends. My mother is pretty much paralysed from the waste down and doubly incontinent - can do little by herself. The morning visit is meant to be (ie on the contract) 9.30am and we accept this is +/- 30mins. But every weekend I have to phone to chase and getting through isn't easy. My mother is expected to sit in her poo at their convenience. Nobody ever phones to say they are running late. This morning is a case in point - 11:15am and nobody turned up as of yet. Called twice, no answer. It's not safe and not the service we are paying for. Morning visits have ranged between 8.45am and noon. Evening visits between 6pm and 10pm. Another issue is that the phone operator has on occasion blamed the carers when we know it's their roster. Also been told "she'll be there in 15mins" when it could be another 45mins. Just fobbing off.

Three times over recent weeks I have asked for a call back from the manager (name begins with M) - this has never happened.

Apart from the safety aspect, it's disruptive - weekends are a chance to take my mother out, but how can we plan anything not knowing when the carer will turn up.

Another issue: we had trouble with the attitude of one of the carers a couple of years back. When we restarted with Care Outlook this time it was agreed she wouldn't be sent. Sure enough she was sent. My mother tried her best but the relationship broke down again. I called the office saying that it had already been agreed she wouldn't be sent. They apologised and I said she would be refused if she came again. Sure enough they were going to send her again last weekend.

2 stars might seem harsh given weekdays are OK, but we've come to dread the hassle at weekends and I have to waste so much of my time calling them. Will revise if things improve.

Very good service from Careoutlook