Zero hours , does it impact on care?

Hi
Simple suggestions to local authorities who commission/contract/outsource these services - design contracts that ban zero house.
I am so glad that this has come into the news and the person below is absolutely right it leads to terrible inconsistency of care workers and quality of care notwithstanding the workers rights.

Hi Rochelle,

I can't answer your question (no relevant experience).

But did I hear you speaking rather well on the subject, on BBC Radio 4 a few days ago ? If I'm right, and that was you, well done !

My instinct, is that zero hours contracts are often not a good thing, for the employee or the patients.

Cheers, Mike

I will ask this question on the dignity in action facebook page - watch out for the responses. Jan

Is there a link ? I've looked for facebook page but could not find one? Given the level of publicity this is gaining I am surprised at the lack of response to date! But thank you Jan I am looking forward to some response - perhaps we can make a difference?

These are the responses that came in on the facebook page minus peoples names of course to ensure confidentiality. Plenty of useful and interesting comments...............

It does have an impact on the stability of staffing and also how valued the carers themselves feel. The stability means that often the care is not provided by someone who is familiar which I think is really important especially in dementia care. If you don't feel valued it is hard to give 100% when you don't have any tenure
September 9 at 9:26pm · Like · 1

Very true - I agree. Huge turnovers of staff does beg the question what opportunities are there to form effective relationships - staff to staff - staff to people who use services etc where is the trust? confidence? consistency? continuity?
September 9 at 9:46pm · Like · 1

My current council carers recently went from zero hours contracts to a selection of hour contracts varying between 20 and 30 hrs. Some carers are still on zero hours. Either because they went awarded one of the contracted positions or some prefared the flexibility of zero hours or what they had previously agreed to in interview.. Eg every other weekend off.. No evening work etc etc.. I think before totally getting rid of them there needs to be more discussions because for a minority of people they do work....
September 11 at 10:45pm via mobile · Unlike · 1

I also think that good management effects the turn over of workers more than the zero hours contracts
September 11 at 10:46pm via mobile · Unlike · 2

Valuable points - great to hear this from a person who uses services perspective. Thanks.
September 12 at 9:32am · Like

Absolutely x agree 100% so many managers want to micro manage their staff in a completely task orientated way.
September 12 at 11:16am via mobile · Like · 1

I agree with your comments. Also, as a side note, I would just like to point out that when a contract states 0 hours it makes things difficult when applying for such things as morgages.
September 20 at 4:01am · Unlike · 3

I would be great if everyone could be given contracted hours, but in domiciliary care providers only get paid for the time carers spend in the client's home. So if the client cancels, goes into hospital, etc providers don't get paid. So where would the money to pay the contracted hours would come from in those cases?
September 24 at 3:05am · Like

Maybe the contracts need looking at a care home usually gets so many days payment after death and also fees paid when a service user is in hospital

my experience has been mixed, in some cases it has provided the worker with the chance to ensure that they can manage their work life balance whilst remaining committed to providing good and consistent standards of care, but it can also be a way of ensuring that employers don't have to meet some of the costs of employing good staff. I think this is a tricky one, in that on the face of it, it is never a good idea, but when you look more deeply it could have some positive benefits.

To improve quality of care for those receiving services the whole system of home care needs to be reviewed. Home care is currently underfunded and undervalued but hopefully campaigns such as the one by Citizens UK may go some way to getting the issues addressed http://t.co/Pcth9j1bbN. Thank you for the responses I think I may have lost my confidence a little, but to know I am not the only one gave me back my mojo !!