Have anyone ever hesitated to get help at home because of not much reassurance

Thank you all for your recommendations and as we are based in Northern Ireland it became AGENI and we reached out and the amount of support be it financial, home help and also the empathy comes with such services is incredible. Thank you all for the direction... It is appreciated our end and thank you again

I put off getting help with cleaning my house for those very reasons, how could I have a stranger wandering around my home, someone I did not know. I did not want to use an agency because I had heard from friends the problems they had going down that route.
Then my daughter brought her cleaner around, we sat and talked for about an hour and decided we were both comfortable with each other so now I have a lovely young lady who comes once a fortnight and does the bits that I can no longer do.
So maybe your best bet would be to talk to friends see if they know of anyone with a cleaner, there is no better recommendation than word of mouth.

CallMeQueenie - some agencies are able to do "everything" - but it will cost!

My opinion for what its worth is always take recommendations from friends and family -they're the ones who know what your going through most. It can be hard doing all the research just to find help, I just wish there was once place you could find everything

Hi
I am 77, I live alone in a 2ned flat. I started (3yrs ago) finding that I couldn’t clean as well as I would like it to be.
I found an excellent Brazilian lady on my ‘local’ FB page. She has 8 Brazilian girls who work for her. She comes to me once a fortnight. £50 is the best money I spend a month.
Usually it is early on a Monday either 1 girl it takes her 3hrs. Or occasionally the owner & 2 others and it takes 1hr. All still for £50.
I am always home when they come, I provide the cleaning stuff. Never stop for a drink.
It’s the best decision I’ve made.
Do it, you won’t regret it

Brilliant, thank you... I feel like i have arrived for the in's and out's. Got to be suspicious then. Thank you.

Also turn up unannounced and you will then get a clear picture of what’s going on. And the cleaner or carer won’t know when you’re likely to appear again. This should keep them on their toes.

Thank you, for this and i will be careful how i word my response not to sound to much how i actually am. thank you also for the persons that actually appreciated that I was asking for help instead of negatively thinking i was here with a hidden agenda (even though i had to google vitriol to finds it meaning but thank you because every day is a school day even for us young ones ) I am based in the Uk and my mum does have a ring doorbell but would never want her to feel violated with cameras around her home and only because (as i am sure you will appreciate) her sons, garnadchildren etc do come and visit frequently and that may lead to the conversation being somewhat robotic (ironic how i have to use this terminology lol ) Thank you for AGE UK and we have put a feeler out so thank you all so much and i await the response.

LookingIntoHomeHelp - do you have a community chat group based on your street/road/area? If so you could ask for recommendations which you know would be coming from neighbours with a reputation to uphold. In the group I belonged to when living in London, it was often the case that people posted for their cleaner saying s/he was good and reliable and looking for 3 more hours work on a certain day of the week to enable them to move from one house in the road to another. It worked very well so try that.

Age UK in my area supply cleaners to the retired or disabled. The cleaners are vetted, and insured. Age UK also spend time finding someone who fits your personality, and your home. I pay a lump sum in advance - c. £220, to Age UK. I believe that covers my share of the cleaner's insurance, empoyment stamp and pension contributions for the year. From there, I pay £15.00 per hour. I was ill all last year - so it was worth it.
Also - if we are not comfortable with the person provided, they will find us someone else. Which is reassuring.

Schnackie2

I am so sorry that the OP has had so much vitriol directed at her! Talk about trust! Some people are so suspicious. Even if they were thinking about starting a business, it seems like a very appropriate topic for a Gransnet question, and might be helpful to others. In regard to the original question, while I am a very trusting person in general, I would absolutely have cameras in the home of any vulnerable person I cared about. I would tell any paid help, that they were there both to avoid any potential untoward behaviour on their part, but also so I could check on the person when they were alone in the house. We are lucky that these devices are available and should make use of them.

I agree totally .

Please use a company as if your carer is ill or on hols they will send in another

Social services do provide folks at a basic cost and these are vetted. What I was told is that you let them do it for a while and you will get more than one, so pick one you like and offer her private work to keep her

We used a local care company. They came in four hours a day 2 in morning personal care and food , one at lunchtime, 2 at night food and bed.
We asked locally for recommendations got three and quite honestly they were all brilliant.
Such lovely ladies we were able to keep mum at home for 14 months .,
She also had a cleaner but these ladies actually cleaned ironed etc in the spare time .
Look for c q c ratings in your area.
A company can fill absences if people off sick can advise on many medical issues . Are also trained and insured. Single self employed don’t always have this .
Check for DBS too.
Then jump into it… you just have to keep chatting to head office if not happy about things . I stuck lots of lists around of what was needed on each shift . Of things mum liked to drink eat do tv programmes radio channels etc.
they will come and do a rigorous assessment chat to check who fits and do the paperwork checking meds allergies drs numbers etc etc. they definitely have a hot line to district nurses gps and know exactly how to deal with things. We got terrific access to all sorts of services through the care team .

I am so sorry that the OP has had so much vitriol directed at her! Talk about trust! Some people are so suspicious. Even if they were thinking about starting a business, it seems like a very appropriate topic for a Gransnet question, and might be helpful to others. In regard to the original question, while I am a very trusting person in general, I would absolutely have cameras in the home of any vulnerable person I cared about. I would tell any paid help, that they were there both to avoid any potential untoward behaviour on their part, but also so I could check on the person when they were alone in the house. We are lucky that these devices are available and should make use of them.

LookingIntoHomeHelp

thank you for your help, i came here to this website asking for assistance and feel now i have to go away thinking of my username on every other internet website and also thinking that is there a purpose in asking for help when needed. Thank you so much for the replies i received that were helpful and constructive. I will take them responses and buy into them and fully appreciate that there is places we can arrive on that offers us insights at the times when we feel at our lowest ebb... Its almost beautiful. Thank you to you all.

Sorry could be wrong but that last paragraph looked totally bogus. Who talks like that? Maybe English is not your native language (and that's absolutely fine obviously) but if you're using AI (like Google Translate) you should know how it can come across. I have found the responses helpful as my son is thinking about employing a cleaner for his flat but the OP is fake I think. Apologies if that's not the case.

Roughly where in the country are you?
Somebody may have area knowledge?

thank you for your help, i came here to this website asking for assistance and feel now i have to go away thinking of my username on every other internet website and also thinking that is there a purpose in asking for help when needed. Thank you so much for the replies i received that were helpful and constructive. I will take them responses and buy into them and fully appreciate that there is places we can arrive on that offers us insights at the times when we feel at our lowest ebb... Its almost beautiful. Thank you to you all.

Sorry, now known as Age UK.

Try Age Concern.

Late. Definitely off to bed now.

Sorry on! Getting now 🤦‍♀️

LookingIntoHomeHelp

Sorry have i did something wrong by creating a user name i was trying to find out information about? Is this wrong,? ( it was the first thing i thought when trying to decide)

No. Just create a new user name & let us know that you was the person looking for help.
Let us know how you went one.
Hope you find someone marvellous 🙏

LookingIntoHomeHelp

Am i allowed to ask how you found such a person? I'm scared now to ask

Word of mouth is usually the way to go, or ask for references.

petra

A lot of people hiring care workers for family put up discrete cameras. That way you can check in anytime you want.

Is that even allowed? I don’t think I could plant cameras in my mums house to spy on the cleaner!