As a retired manager of a care agency I would just say that we would get about 40 requests a day from the Hospital for people who were ready for discharge but needed home packages. Some even for areas not covered by our Agency. We would sift through them and then our Care Co-ordinator would look deeper into what was required. Arranging for any necessary aids to assist with lifting, such as hoists, stand-aids, toilet raised seats, commodes etc.,etc., was a nightmare. This is another area that needs looking into. They don't have the equipment to send them home with to enable them to do so. Only then would we start to look to see if we had staff trained or suited to their needs. This whole problem needs a real good sort out. (Especially a look at the wages part, the Agency got from the Government-NHS figure a, and we had to pay our staff figure b, the Agency only made £2 out of each one they took on. Just a different take on the problem I hope, and please remember, we only have o ne Hospital here on the Island, goodness knows what it's like for an Agency Manager who has a couple in her or his area.
