Joyce Craveiro

Review of Hartwig Care Ltd

I'm a live-in volunteer for a vulnerable client of...

I'm a live-in volunteer for a vulnerable client of Hartwig. I'm here to keep them company, help them navigate and attend doctor's appointments, sort mail, cook and so on. Initially I thought I'd be able to work as a team with Hartwig - give them information on what is happening to their client and vice versa, but what I discovered is that Hartwig has been shockingly resistant at collaborating with anything I may need to help their client.

I won't go into details of what has happened because it's just too much but my feeling is that as with most things, most of the time, it's the attitude and expectations of the people at the top that trickles down to most others, so the only way to effect change would be to have a completely different administration in place.

Although as a volunteer I was placed here through Social Services and keep in close contact with them, and they in turn employ Hartwig, any of my requests for information or accountability have fallen on deaf ears. Just when I think I can't be any more shocked at their response or lack thereof, something else happens. Several times over the last year their unwillingness to communicate with me or desire to keep information from me has brought me very close to abandoning my volunteering position because they make it so difficult. They know this person and their family have full trust in me, and I have permission from the person themselves to have access to medical information - and ffs, I live in their house, open their post, know what medications they take, and I'm in frequent contact with their doctor, yet they resort to a standard "GDPR regulations" so as not to tell me when carers are coming and when, to do what. I have finally given in my notice and will cease to be a live-in volunteer. While this decision was taken due to a combination of circumstances, Hartwig's intransigence has been a big part of it, and certainly part of the reason why I'm stopping now. This most likely means that a live-in professional carer will now have to move in with the person I've been living with, and put more weight on already overburdened and underfunded social services. This all refers to what goes on in the offices, but unfortunately, with the carers that come to people's homes, the story isn't much different. With very few exceptions of people who actually interact and make their presence a positive experience when they visit, most of the time it seems like there wouldn't be much difference if we had drones flying in to drop tablets on their client's hands.

I'm only giving them a single star because there's no poo truck emoji available.