And the point of CQC is?

So it's been a while since i've updated my blog (a lot going on!)

Now you all know my story, What did I do next? Well it's a long process, working with Trading Standards to hopefully get justice for me and anyone else who is caught up in Victor's games!

I'm trying so hard to turn my negative experiences with care into something I can use in a positive way to help others, now I run my own team of carers and it's great having that independence back but I won't be able to rest until I get closure.

I'm currently looking for a lawyer which is hard, the area seems so specialised. So please if anyone reads this who thinks they could help, please do! Unfortunately I will have to apply for legal aid as I have little money- like most 22 year olds! But I really need to stop these type of things from happening.

In regards to the whole Victor case I finally got back in touch with the CQC investigator who was dealing with CARE. After 6 months of trying might I add. Things weren't going as I was led to believe.

Every time I rang the CQC, they would tell me that a formal investigation was underway and I should contact the officer who was in charge of case. However when I finally spoke to her she sounded confused. There was no investigation. What?!

Apparently, when she did her last routine inspection CARE passed which meant there was no cause for concerns as my complaint was more a safeguarding issues not something that the CQC deal with. Huh?
I asked what was the point of the CQC if they weren't going to regulate properly? Officer explained that as CARE have passed their last inspection (which only covered 3 outcomes as opposed to a full set might i add) and that it was the CQC's duty to make sure that organisations fulfil outcomes. This is outrageous  I was told for 6 months there was an investigation to then be told there wasn't one as 'CARE had fulfilled outcomes' - what a joke! And the irony is that one of the outcomes is about respect for the client which CARE quite clearly lack, but no it is fine. On previous reports posted online I also found the same patterns of abuse and complaints that I had suffered myself. And these reports were published in 2011. So it was clear CARE were up to their old tricks but apparently the so called Care Quality Commission won't help. Although they did tell me to contact the provider, yeah because that is wise *rolls eyes*

After my fury with the CQC I contacted safeguarding. Again bad luck, as I was now deemed safe there was and is no need for them to be involved as Trading Standards are dealing with it. But as my TS officer says, to get him good I NEED a lawyer as she can not deal with emotional damages, so please somebody help?!!!

Update soon

Bea

Chapter Six : Out and gone ... (for now)

Hey,

Thank you to all the people who have read my story, I have had more than an overwhelming response. I plan that one day I can make a difference. The more I blog, the more I want to unveil CARE's true identity and also my true identity. Anyway here is the latest instalment. 

Chapter Six

So Victor had decided he wanted to withdraw two days before my requeste date that Dan had also agreed. So Thursday came, this was it last day at CARE. After Louise's shift Adam* (a team leader for the other client's team) knocked on my door. I answered.

He asked me if he could tak the Care File and return it to Victor. I said no. This file contained my personal information and I was well within my right to keep the file. He then BEGGED me to give it to him, saying that I should just o what Victor asks otherwise i'd get in trouble. Adam left.

The irony was that Victor wanted me to play along despite the at he was more than prepared to leave without care, at risk, not complying to his duties as a care director, it was a joke. Louise got a text. Victor.

Can you please tell Beatrice to return her care file to Adam, as it is CARE property. If you or she do not do so, the police will be phoned and it will be regarded as theft.

I can actually not tell you how much this made me laugh. The sheer suggestion of Polie being phoned was pitiful. Did I return the care file? no I didn't! instead I copied each and every page of the most innacurate document because I knew I wanted to proceed with a case against CARE even though I was out. 

The next day Louise agreed to come in and help me get up despite all the threats from Victor about suing. The weekend past, Finally the safeguarding meeting had arrived. 

The chairman of the meeting seemed somewhat pleased that the meeting was happening, then he revealed a shocking truth. This wasn't the first case against Victor or CARE. In fact I was the fourth victim. Same pattern of abuse. I was sickened. How was this being allowed to happen? Well here's how....

CARE (Victor) generally deal with people who have life limiting conditions and people who are in receipt of Direct Payment. (DP)

To be in receipt of DP you have to prove that you are in a state of mind that understands the responsibilities that DP carries, I.e you are in charge of the service rather than Social Services and that you foot the bill for the service. CARE promise to 'assist their clients with this process'.. So when something goes wrong the argument is that the client e.g me is of sound mind to get involved with the company and that CARE strive to involve clients in every aspect of care. 

However, this does not work. As Victor fiddles with invoices and documents to make it look like you've agreed and it is REALLY hard to disprove this and relate it to a break in the law. 

There is a case against Victor that was made public and the case was dropped. If someone is not convicted you can not use it against them, So Victor was and is a clever stupid man who knows how to cover his tracks.

At the meeting it had become clear that people wanted Victor to be stopped. It was up to me to take the company down. The stories I told made the people at the meeting recoil in horror. The chairman Mike* was really determined to take Victor down but needed me to make a stand.

So I was put in contact with Trading Standards and my officer believes I may have a fair chance at getting justice. 

UPDATE: I did a google search last night and noticed that CARE were shortlisted as a finalist at the 2013 Accolades Care Awards. You have to be kidding.

Until Next Time Bea x    
    

Chapter five: The Final Blow

Before I write this chapter, I would just like to say a massive thank you to anyone who has read/retweeted my blog, it means so much to have my voice heard. I hope that this helps anyone going through similar situations. The sad thing is that you're not alone. I want my story to make an impact and show that things like this can't happen again. So Thank you for supporting me.

Chapter five

"I'm worried about my safety, are you going to listen to me?"

"NO."

I was actually shellshocked, why was Victor lying? Surely that would affect his 'sparkling reputation' Dan advised me that if I wanted to my team privately I needed to do so soon. He sent me documents so I could write my own contracts/adverts/become an employer in my own right. 

I rang Victor, I asked him when he was planning to withdraw as I was building my own team and needed to know dates for the new employees. He kept saying that he would withdraw when the time was right and that I shouldn't question him. Unbelievable. He STILL wasn't cooperating. How was I supposed to plan. And to make things harer it was two weeks before the Christmas Break. I needed to know what was going to happen. The next day I rang again.

The conversation soon turned hostile (like always) I told him so many times that I was worried about being left with no care. I asked him to listen repeatedly. He refused. He even explicitly said NO. In a way as much as the situation was frustrating  he was playing up to what i'd been saying all along. I was finally winning.      

That day, I decided to look the company up on CQC website, However unlike most companies they were not listed in the conventional way. instead the CEO's name was used. Suspicious? Anyway I had done this a month previous and was shocked by my findings. 

The first report I had seen had 'crosses' relating to do they respect the clients wishes and their dignity. When I opened the full report I read incidences remarkably similar to my own. This company was evil. It prayed on the vulnerable. However this time (one month later) told a different story. Gleaming reports. What? How can this be?

I knew for a fact that CARE only had 4 clients (one being the CEO) and that my university had been in contact with CQC regarding CARE as I was soon to find out that Victor was notoriously known across the campus for being aggressive, disrespectful and a bully. - This was even before I was a client.

My disability advisor Ben had told me a few weeks previous that Victor was known to the CQC and there was even an officer investigating CARE. So how in the new report did CARE have such good reviews? I rang the CQC and explained my concerns.

I explained that CARE had only 4 clients and that if I had been asked for experiences the report woud have had a totally different outcome. And that I also knew that a CQC investigation was supposed to b underway, The guy I spoke to told be that the two clients that they did interview were happy so based on that information CARE had passed the investigation. This left me thinking, I thought the CQC were supposed to prevent these kind of situations from happening? Could they do more?      

Meanwhile with Victor he still hadn't gave me date and time was running thin. Dan rang me and asked me if I could go to a safeguarding meeting regarding Victor, I jumped at the chance, well not literally.

There was still no date and no rota had been uploaded regarding the shifts for the following week. So I rang Victor. Again. I asked him whether it was possible for him to withdraw on the day that I was due to be going home for Christmas. He again was difficult. " I will withdraw when I'm ready." He kept saying. So hang on, the man that wanted me gone, was keeping hold? It was Thursday I was going home in 9 days with no idea about what care I was going to receive and when. 

Next day, Louise was on shift and was as curious as I to find out what was going on in my final week. Louise had also handed in her notice of resignation due to the fact that CARE hadn't even had the decency to inform her that they were withdrawing services and it was left to me to tell her. The other two employees on my team were being retrained to work with another client.      

She rang Victor to ask him what was going on. He was put on speakerphone. He told Louise that she should not tell him how to run his business despite the fact she was only asking what shifts she was working from Monday. So we decided to take matters in to our own hands.

CARE use a website that is similar to some kind of file sharing, where the client and their team can view Shift Rotas and other documents. When we logged in we noticed that all previous documents had been deleted.

We uploaded our own rota that had the final shift with CARE as the Saturday Morning. (going home day) We knew it would annoy him but I was getting no where. I logged on a few hours later to find that my rota had been deleted and Victor had uploaded one that had the last shift as Thursday. Two days before the date that me and Dan thought would be acceptable.

........ 

Next Time: SAFEGUARDING

see you then Bea x