DALE CARE COMPANION SERVICES Review

We ve used Dale Care to help with the care of my Dad who has dementia and are very pleased with the service. Dads main carer, Deborah, goes above and beyond in the excellent service provided for my Dad and nothing is too much trouble. The friendly and professional service given by Deborah has made a very difficult time much more manageable and the whole family is grateful for her continued efforts on Dads behalf. Deborah has become a vital part of Dads care and we d really struggle without her help and guidance. Dad looks forward to her visits and she never fails but to cheer him and finds time to get to know his interests and family. Thank you for providing such a wonderful service!

A joke of a company. Horrendous to work for. Nothing but bullying and verbal abuse, no hours what so ever; no organisation, dont get your wages right. would not reccomend .

Appalling service , there is two carers who normally look after my Gran ,Julie&Joanne who are amazing, can't do enough for my her, but when they are off the company send anyone who didn't brush my grans teeth for 6 days , missed her medicine, left her without shopping, didn't do any washing for her or washing up... Have had numerous problems with this company since using them, they left my grans door unlocked all night so anyone could of got in. They have missed her medication on number of occasions and then double dozed her .would not recommend this company. It's only the two lovely women mentioned earlier that look after my gran so well that gives us a bit of peace of mind.

I totally agree with Kirsty Marshall in the below view.The company is not fit for purpose. STAY CLEAR!!!!!!and don't have any dealings with Dale Care.

I would really suggest people stay away from this company!!!!!

My severely disabled mum has been refused a drink of water, most carers cant and won t cook anything other than ready meals. They weren t done particularly very well either just about stomach-able.

If you ask a carer to do something for you that they are supposed to do, you get yelled at with its not my job or I don t have time , however they are a couple of very good carers in the company.

The office staff tell you what you want to hear and not the whole truth and if you have a time critical call you can be seen at anytime the carer feels like going and never the full time for the call either.

Over all the company is ran by a bung of idiots who don t really care about their clients as long as they are getting their money they couldn t care less.

That s why the company should be called Dale Don t Care Ltd.

An appalling service from start to finish. I am just so relieved that my elderly nan had myself and my mother to speak up for her, as if she had to communicate with the coordinator herself I believe she would just be bullied down. Unfortunately we had to ring up the coordinator a number of times due to carers coming at totally the wrong times and/or not doing what was agreed. This is not the fault of the carers, they were all lovely ladies who I believe are under paid and under valued. There's a total lack of communication between management and carers, and each time we have had dealings on the phone we were met with an abrupt, insensitive and busy attitude. It always felt like the coordinator was in a hurry to end the phone call and that her interests were of that of the customer. We put in 2 official complaints and also spoke to the manager. Nothing came of these, we were just told our comments were taken on board and that the coordinator was told to me more sympathetic and empathic. Thankfully our dealings with Dale care have come to an end. We wouldn't dream of paying towards a poor service like this.

Appalling service, had to get a neighbour to do the call
It's now 7 days later no phone call no apology
It's now Saturday the 6th my morning call is supposed to be between 9- 9.30 in morning, I didn't get a call until 11.50 I was left without a drink and my commode needed emptying, couldn't take my morning medication because I didn't have a drink to take it, I have been I'll in bed for 10 years and I can't do anything for myself, appalling service from dale (uncare) and the office staff lie to you
It is now Sunday the 7th, ( no one from dalecare came for my morning call ) my call should have been between 9- 9.30 I was left without a drink and couldn't take my medication because I had no drink, nothing to eat commode needed emptying my curtains were closed until 1.10 in the afternoon, I don't have any family around , so I just lie there alone, this is why they get away with it because I have no family near me to speak for me I feel so alone and very vulnerable some days I just want to die. THEY ARE NOT FIT TO BE CALLED DALECARE THEY SHOULD BE CALLED ( DALE DONT CARE ) another day dalecare left me alone, didn't even bother to send a carer they get paid doing nothing

Terrible service ,BUT IT WAS NOT THE CARERS FAULT AT ALL , the office staff have no idea at all , two hours late without a call to say why ! Then on a number of occasions 2 visits within 2 hours , trying to claw revenue back on late and missed visits , shocking attitude to people and various staff , so many better company s out there , I would suggest stay clear , or install cctv to timeline the visits for costing .but office staff and management totally devoid of empathy, ALL ABOUT THE MONEY,

Absolutely shocking care provided by this company. Carers dont even turn up to provide the care plan agreed for my mother who suffers from vascular dementia. Office staff dont care at all when feedback provided. Totally appalling!!!

For the 3rd weekend out of the last 4 we ve not had a career attend for my partners mum. She requires assistance to get out of bed and get changed, but is also requires medication at set times.

Today the earliest they could get a career to mum was around 12:00, for an 08:00 scheduled booking.

During the week it s always ok, but every weekend everything falls apart and it s putting the health of clients at serious risk!

We ve complained to coordinators and to managment but it seems to fall on deaf ears.

We understand staff sickness can cause problems but it s funny how it s only a problem on a weekend and it s always mum that s impacted by it.

Also, twice in the last fortnight careers have trod dog dirt through the house and we ve had to have the carpets cleaned in dining room, lounge, hall and mums bedroom as well as kitchen floor and bathroom floor (fortunately they can be mopped)
Dale care weren t interested, no apologies, not even an offer to have the carpets cleaned, we ve had to pay twice to have them washed!

What can I say, when Dale Care get it right everything is great.
But when things go wrong, you give them the opportunity to sort the issue but they just don't bother!
In the last week we've had a carer who's on the bad prevent list, so they are not supposed to attend our house (this was because this person is incapable of keeping their face covering on inside our home). Contacted Dale Care about this, we still await feedback as to why it happened.
Then the next carer has a bit of a personal hygiene problem, well when I say a bit its an understatement.
The house stinks from her stale smelling B.O. on the first visit we gave her the benefit of doubt, that she'd maybe had a long day. But the second visit the smell was worse again. So we contacted Dale Care about this, even mum commented on the smell from the carer. They said they would try and sort something out for that night. We were hopeful it was either the carer had a bath and popped some clean clothes on or they send a different carer, but alas no, neither happened and we had the same carer whith another day of festering B.O. Mum refused a shower, after the carer left mum said she wouldn't have a shower from someone who smelt so badly. She has a point.
Tonight, the same carer has come again, the stench is another day stronger, and this time she kindly took her coat off and dropped it onto mums blanket on the sofa so now that's lifting (not to mention quite bad from an infection control point of view)
Mum has again refused a shower because of the smell, we've had to open the windows and spray air freshener to get rid of the smell! Called Dale Dont Care again tonight about this to be told "the co-ordinator for your area has been off until today so that's why it will have been missed" erm OK, so if a co-ordinator is off no one covers their job? Really?

Mum goes to a day centre on a Thursday, and is collected at around 9:15am most Thursday's the carer is late. They arrive around 8/8:15 every morning except a Thursday where its always late, this morning they arrived at 8.55am to get mum up, washed, dressed and get breakfast into her for a bus collecting her at 9.15am. The only reason we made it today was the bus was also late and didn't get here until 9.30am. We speak to Dale Dont Care every time this happens, yet it keeps happening.
We called Dale Care this morning who told us the carer should have been here for 7.30am, but the carer said they had mum down for about quarter past eight.
We pointed out Dale Care said she was down for 7.30am and she said "that's not what it says on my rota" but still didn't turn up until 8.55am. Were still waiting on a call back from Dale care that we made at 8.30am asking where the carer was... no call back made to us as yet.

We've reached the point where we think its time to seek advice again from social services and pass our complaints across to the CQC area inspector as it looks like there are management failings within dalecare that aren't being dealt with.

Outstanding care and respect from everyone involved with my mother enabled her to spend the final months of her live at home.I cannot praise highly enough the patience and good humour with which the staff carried out their work which meant so much to her and to the family.

I have been a carer for nearly 9 years now I do really enjoy my job... But most of all the staff at dale care are fab were all one big team working together....i do feel personally that's Dale care do try to meet our needs as best they can... And our coordinator is fab she's always helpful with any queries I have.. Being a carer is so very rewarding I no it has its down falls too but.. To be a part of a care Community I. E Dale care... and to help the elderly #loveit

Fantastic care company nothing has been a problem , the carers are always friendly and helpful and reliable . Barry and the rest of the team deserve a medal .

Firstly the good.

The standard of care my mother received from Dale Care staff ranged from very good to excellent. I will single out one member of care staff especially for praise, that being "Anne" whom my mother came to know quite well. This went beyond actual care in that it gave my mother a chance to interact socially with other people, something she d found difficulty in doing due to her repeated illnesses.

Now the not so good.

Firstly, Dale Care failed to initially notify their care staff on a small number of occasions that my mother had been admitted to hospital leading to unexpected visits in the days following, despite my thoroughness in informing Dale Care of any hospital admissions. Unexpected visits normally occurred in first five days after admission.

Secondly, if regular care staff were unavailable or off work, other staff covering for them on rare occasions would ask to turn up far earlier than my mother s preference for a 10.30 am visit. Asking this question is not a problem in itself and we were willing to show some flexibility and to negotiate provided there was sufficient warning.

However, in one instance we received a phone call on a Friday evening from the carer on cover where we specifically responded that a 7.30 am the following morning was not realistic (I had personal arrangements making this very difficult). The carer on cover turned up shortly after 7.30 am on Saturday anyway, her apologising and saying she could not fit us in any other way.

Thirdly, on a very small number of occasions when my mother s more usual care staff were unavailable, I noted more junior members of care staff wanted to use our landline. When I challenged this, they said it was to log their visit to tend to my mother s needs with Dale Care (I have seen other reviews also saying this). I thus query if at times newly employed Dale Care staff do not have company-supplied mobile phones / personal organisers at least at the beginning of their employment and these are supplied once Dale Care are able to supply them. Do newly employed staff sometimes use the client's landline in preference to their own mobile phones in these circumstances? This is not fair on carer (placed in awkward situation) or client (they or relatives rightfully will ask what is going on).

With regard to the third point, you really need to ensure your staff have the correct equipment to avoid this or in the event of equipment break-down, ask your staff to ask permission from the client or relatives to use their phone as this behaviour came across as strange and unprofessional.

A letter has been sent to Dale Care covering these points. Because of the above issues, I can only give a rating of 3 out of 5. This is a shame, as the standard of care itself was faultless.

Poor service, unfriendly & rude staff! Or Don't keep to times agreed by clients & staff! Anyone reading this my advice is steer well clear of dale care

Rude staff who made 83 year old have jam and bread for lunch although the fridge was full of microwave ready meals.
Staff using her phone every day without explanation.

Completely unreliable. Frequently my.mother has been left last minute without carers, meaning she is in danger of missing vital doses of medicine. A greedy, greedy company who have bought out the competition, left themselves the only care option in the area and then take that responsibility as seriously as mud. Disgusting.

I absolutely loved my job and my co-workers but this company is horrendous to work for! Management don't support staff or service users. Out of hours team are useless and speak to you like dirt. You NEVER get your holiday's what you ask for. It's the service users I feel sorry for as they are also nevet listened to. Service users care plans are NEVER updated even after informing office of change. Do yourself a favor and stay well clear!

This company is a complete joke. Staff are very under-trained and are very rude. Not one set of manners between them. Time keeping is disgraceful by this I mean not coming when they are supposed to and being rude to families. I would not trust this company or its staff with a rat let alone a human. Dale Care should be closed down!!! There is no compassion from anyone and your staff should be barred from working with vulnerable people.

There is a really bad attitude on some/one of the staff members of Dale care I have had the very misfortune of coming across, I tried asking her something politely to start with but her response was met with a very bad attitude, I now believe my neighbour is unhappy with me because off her! from hearing her yelling, but not sure if it was aimed at me.

Absolutely disgusting staff member, why cant people just be nice and polite!!