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Working with Relatives, Friends and Carers in Domiciliary Care Policy

Policy Statement

This document outlines the policy of the agency in relation to involving relatives, friends and carers in our dealings with service users.

The agency recognises that the services it provides to a service user are only one part of the network of care and support on which the service user depends. We will always strive, therefore, to co-operate with and help any relatives, friends and carers whom a service user identifies to us.

We consider that each service user should be able, in ways and at a level they themselves decide, to maintain relationships with relatives, friends, and carers, and that those relatives, friends and carers should be consulted and involved in any aspect of the assessment, care and support of a service user that the service user wishes.

We see relatives, friends and carers as partners in caring for service users and, subject always to the principle that the needs and wishes of the service user remain paramount, we value and seek to encourage their involvement in the life and work of the agency. We undertake always to deal courteously with the relatives, friends and carers of service users.

Specific Procedures

1. Staff of the agency will only communicate with a relative, friend or carer of a service user with the service user’s express permission. We will always respect the service user’s right to privacy in their affairs, in particular in relation to information about them held by or known to the agency. Subject to those limitations we will attempt to involve named relatives, friends and carers in all appropriate areas of a service user’s assessment and care.
2. Before starting to provide services to a service user, we will provide both full information on the agency’s services and facilities and the contract of service to any relative, friend or carer whom the prospective service user identifies to us, with written material in a relevant language, style and format.
3. In carrying out the needs assessment of a prospective service user, we will consult any appropriate relative, friend or carer, will take fully into account any information they supply about the service user and about their relationship to the service user, and will respect their privacy and other rights. We will be especially sensitive in situations where our staff visit a prospective service user in a property where a relative, friend or carer also resides.
4. If it is appropriate, we will, in the course of carrying out a needs assessment, seek and take into account information about the needs and wishes, as carers or service users in their own right, of any relative, friend or carer of a prospective service user.
5. We will be responsive to information provided by relatives, friends and carers during any further assessment or re-assessment of a service user’s situation carried out during their period of their receiving services.
6. We will take particular care in dealing with the relatives, friends and carers of service users who come from minority cultures, ensuring that our staff are familiar with and respect practices relating to families, kinship and social relationships.
7. We will involve appropriate relatives, friends and carers in drawing up, reviewing and implementing the service user plan of the service user to whom they are related or connected.
8. We will involve appropriate relatives, friends and carers in all aspects of the day-to-day care which our staff provide for a service user if this is what they and the service user wish, will consult them in advance if possible and involve them in the decision about any change of care or support worker, and will keep them fully informed on issues relating to the care provided.
9. We will record the names and contact details of relatives, friends and carers with whom the service user wishes us to communicate and establish with them and with the service user the circumstances in which they are to be informed or contacted about any significant development.
10. We will take all possible steps to encourage and facilitate contact between service users and their relatives, friends and carers, by helping in arrangements if a service user wishes to welcome visitors to their home.
11. We will never act to restrict contact between a service user and their relatives, friends and carers except at the request of a service user.
12. We will be particularly responsive to the need to involve and cooperate with relatives, friends and carers at times of the increasing infirmity, terminal illness or death of a service user, will show sensitivity to any special requests made to us regarding rituals, cultural practices or required methods of care associated with dying and death, and will try to respond to the needs of relatives, friends and carers after the death of a loved one.
13. The relatives, friends and carers of a service user who have been named by the service user as approved by them will have access to that service user’s record whenever they require it.
14. We will encourage, enable and empower service users’ relatives, friends and carers to make complaints and suggestions about the service and ensure that these are promptly investigated and where appropriate acted on.
15. We will systematically seek the views of service users’ relatives, friends and carers on the services the agency provides, using consultation processes and surveys, and will incorporate this material into our quality assurance procedures.
16. We will encourage and assist the formation of groups of relatives, friends and carers both locally and nationally as an aide to expressing views in ways which can lead to improvements in our services.
17. If a service user expresses a wish that the agency should have no further contact with a relative, friend or carer, that wish will be respected.
18. If a service user expresses a wish to cease to have contact with a relative, friend or carer, we will as far as possible support them in carrying out that decision.
19. If it is apparent or suspected that a service user is suffering any form of abuse from a relative, friend or carer, we will take all necessary steps to protect the service user, to report to the relevant authorities and to collaborate in any further investigation and action.
20. We will respect the right of a service user at any stage to appoint a representative to deal with the agency on their behalf, and we recognise that this may be someone other than the relatives, friends and carers with whom we had previously had contact. We will provide information to service users, relatives, friends and carers about independent advocates who can act on their behalf and about self-advocacy schemes.

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