Frequently Asked Questions

UKHCA receives hundreds of calls to its helpline each week. Below is a selection of some of the questions we receive. You will need your username and password to view the answers, if you have lost this information you can request your username and password.

Abuse of Children and Vulnerable Adults

• The UKHCA recommended members' insurance scheme includes an Abuse Liability section. Why is this, and does the cover increase the premium?

Care Worker Training and Funding

• Should we pay our staff while they are training?
• I've applied for TSI funding this year and have been told that I have to entrer most of myworker records on the National Minimum Dataset to qualify.Is this correct?
• We are considering purchasing online materials for the induction of new recruits. Is this a good strategy?
• Is there a legal requirement always to have at least two members of staff operating a user's hoist?
• How can I check the quality and practice of a training provider?
• How can I make sure that training suits my business needs?
• What questions should I ask my training provider if I am eligible for funding?
• How do I know what National Vocational Qualifications cost?
• I would like to start employing nurses as homecare workers. What training do they need?
• What are the points to cover when training care workers in England to deal with a service user's non-response?
• Observation is one of the methods of assessment in NVQ programmes. How can I arrange for external assessors to visit service users at home to assess candidates?
• Are care workers allowed to use electronic personal grooming devices, such as a nasal hair trimmer, if requested by the service user?

Contracting and Tendering

• Do you have a contract for people paying for their own care?
• What is 'wages-plus' andis ti widely used in council contracting? It seems to be where councils set the minimum hourly rate for workers and agencies compete on the commission they add on top to cover overheads and profit
• Can we include an administration fee in our service user contract that would be charged if a contract is cancelled by the user very soon after it is put in place?
• When do GPs take over most NHS commissioning in England?
• Our local authority is varying the terms of its current contracts to specify 15 minute care visits. Our contract is up for renewal soon - what can we do?
• We are considering tendering for NHS work, but the contract requires us to carry out annual CRB checks and we are concerned about the cost.
• What is happening about e-tendering in Scotland and what is UKHCA’s stance?

Direct Payments and Individualised Budgets

• A direct payment user owes us money because they did not increase payment when the council extended the package. What should we do?
• Direct payment and individual budget users are expecting us to charge them the same rate as they receive from the local authority, but this is unrealistic.
• I'm newly appointed at a care agency and have a business development brief. Where can I find useful information on personalisation?

Homecare Sector Research

• Where can I find statistics to help me negotiate with my local authority? They don't want to give us an increase this year.

Human Resources and Employment Practice

• Are my staff entitled to a day's paid holiday for the Royal Wedding on 29th April 2011 and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee on 5th June 2012?
• What should I do with equal opportunities forms?
• How do I find out about the new Equality Act 2010 and its effect on health questionnaires?
• Do you have specimen policies and procedures that I can use when employing staff?
• Can an employee, who has worked for nearly a year and wishes to resign with immediate effect but has been unable to take annual leave due to office workloads, use her annual leave entitlement as part of her notice period and be paid for it?
• An employee who has an expired warning on her file for misconduct has just repeated the same misconduct again. Can I take the expired warning into consideration and dismiss her?
• We have an employee who calls to cancel his visits at short notice and sends text messages instead of calling the 'on call' telephone to speak to a supervisor. Sometimes he has failed to turn up for work altogether, because of a headache or cold. Can I discipline him?
• It has come to light that an employee is currently under police investigation for allegations of theft and the abuse of a service user. The police have refused to share information with us. We have suspended the employee on full pay and employed another care worker to cover his work. Can I now suspend on no pay until the outcome of the police investigation?
• I am based in England and having difficulty obtaining written references for potential recruits, as sometimes employers do not wish to respond.
• Is there any news about the rules that apply to employing careworkers aged 16 and 17 in Wales?

Medication Administration and Training

• What is the difference between 'assisting with' and 'administering' medication?
• Should we require our staff to wear gloves to give medication?
• Is it satisfactory for care workers to record the words “dosette box” on a medication administration record (MAR), rather than listing the actual drugs concerned?
• A district nurse left a note in a user's care plan instructing our care workers to apply dressings and carry out blood sugar tests. What shall we do?
• Can a careworker leave medication out in a pot for a service user to take later? Our policy does not allow care workers to prompt a service user to take tablets from a pot someone else has filled.

Pandemic Influenza and Infection Control

• We are preparing a pandemic flu plan to meet council requirements but some of their requests seem to fly in the face of the National Minimum Standards. For example, they say we may employ people in a crisis without CRB clearance. Is this right?
• One of our careworkers has been in contact with someone with swine flu. What shall we do?

Regulation and Inspection

• When do we need to notify the CQC of a service user's death?
• We have been asked for information on our compliance with the Essential Standards at short notice. What do CQC inspectors need from us, and when?
• How do we comply with Outcome 17 of the Essential Standards, regarding complaints by service users?
• We are an Introductory Agency in England an wonder if we need to continue to be registered with the Care Quality Commission? We have an ongoing relationship with our clients but do not employ the care workers that are registered with us.
• We notice the Welsh Assembly Government is reconsidering its policy on social care and care regulation. Will there be changes to the Assembly's powers and a combined health and social care regulator, like the Care Quality Commission in England?
• We are looking at a “train the trainer” course and the one we have chosen is not accredited. Would this satisfy the CQC at inspection time?
• My local authority is insisting on seeing enhanced disclosures for our staff who are working on their contracts. The September edition of Homecarer said it is illegal for me to disclose them, but the local authority say that as a “government department” they can require to see the disclosures. Are they a “government department”?
• The Care Quality Commission AQAA form contains questions about the sexual orientation of service users. We are concerned that this is unnecessarily intrusive.
• I have received a regulator's inspection report that is factually incorrect. My inspector has agreed to make some changes, but these are not enough and soon the report will be publicly available.
• I'm waiting for my annual inspection and the Inspector has asked me to provide him with the names and addresses of service users, who he intends to visit before my inspection. Can CQC do this and would I be breaching The Data Protection Act by giving him a list of our clients?

Running a Homecare Business

• Please can you advise whether we should take photos of our clients to keep in their files/care plans?
• I run a domiciliary care agency. Do I have to register for data protection purposes?
• Is there a definitive list of policies and procedures we should have in our homecare business, and can we buy a pack?
• When are cheques due to be phased out?
• I may need some legal advice and have legal expenses cover under my business insurance. Should I ring the UKHCA legal helpline or the one attached to my insurance?
• I'm reviewing our lone worker safety policy and procedures. Where can I find information on the subject?
• We don't reimbutse employees for expenses like petrol - just pay a higher hourly rate that includes an unspecified allowance for these costs. How do I calculate National Minimum Wage?
• Should we be using a thermometer to take water temperature when bathing a service user in their own home
• Do you have a risk assessment template?
• Is there anything that we shuold bear in mind when taking service users out of the home on outings?
• How do I find out about local advocacy services that our service users can use?
• Our careworkers are unwilling to go to a service users' home as the street has a reputation for being unsafe and they are worried about their personal safety. This is a council contract.
• A service user's family want our care workers to raise the cot side when they help the service user into bed to prevent him getting up - he has dementia and may wander. We are concerned there may be a health and safety issue and this practice could be considered to be restraint.
• A service user's relative left instructions for the person cared for to be given a takeaway for lunch. When our worker checked, the user asked for something different to eat, and the relative has now complained.
• A service user's partner has been violent to our care staff and we suspect may have been abusive to the user, although we have no evidence. We don't wish to withdraw care, as we believe this would not be in the best interests of the service user.
• One of our privately-funded service users is near death and unable to express their views. Their spouse is very agitated and distressed. We understand there is a “do not resuscitate” instruction but we have not seen it and it is not possible to obtain reliable information from the spouse.
• I am looking for a health questionnaire to assess the health of night workers under the Working Time Regulations.
• I am based in England and want to re-organise my trading status by moving my agency to a new company. Are there any reasons why I should think twice about doing it?
• We are based in England and thinking about expanding from daily homecare into live-in care at the service user’s home. What should we consider?
• Is VAT chargeable on practical support services we provide?
• Can I use the testimonials of service users in our marketing material?
• I require careworkers using their own cars at work to take out appropriate motor insurance. While I check their insurance routinely every year, I am concerned about what might happen if their policy is cancelled or invalidated without my knowledge. Will my business be insured against claims for injury or damage to property?
• I work for an independent sector homecare agency and have a local authority contract. A service user receiving care under the contract has asked me to provide confidential information under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000. Do I have to provide it?
• My business insurance requires care workers to be 18. Can I let this affect my recruitment decisions?
• The family of one of our service users is, with her agreement, installing CCTV so they can keep an eye on her. Should the user display a notice in her home warning visitors?
• Do care workers need to have motor insurance business cover to do their job and should employers pay for this?
• Will changes to minicab licensing mean care workers who take service users out in their own cars have to license?
• What should be included in identity badges?
• What should I put in our brochure for service users?
• Should I consider applying for ISO 9000 or a similar quality standard?
• Does the smoking ban apply to live-in care?
• Do careworkers need to insure their vehicles for business use?
• I have lost a block contract with a local authority. The authority didn't accept my tender and gave the contract to an agency outside the borough. Can they do that?
• We are a relatively new homecare agency. Should we join the local authority approved provider list?

Services for UKHCA Members

• We let our UKHCA membership lapse four months ago, but would now like to re-join. How do we do this?
• I am having difficulty logging on to the members' area of the website. Can you help me?
• We are considering legal action against a supplier. Will the legal expenses cover under the members' recommended insurance scheme cover the cost?
• We have opened a new branch. How do we bring them into UKHCA membership and what are the benefits?
• I have received my membership renewal papers and would like to pay by BACS.

Workforce Development

• How often do I have to supply refresher training?
• How can we check the specialist training we want to purchase is suitable?
• I have a member of staff that is a registered nurse. Can that person deliver manual handling training?
• I'm aware of the induction, NVQ and management training requirements, but what other training do I need to provide to my care staff?