"Failure to wear PPE"

Elite care sent a member of staff to visit my father, a carer we had not met before.  They were filling in we had called the office when no-one had arrived. Their initial manner was rude as they said that they couldn't stay for a full visit, they'd just get him ready for bed, a real help as he spends his whole day there anyway.  As they approached the bedroom we noticed that not only were they not wearing a disposable apron but, much more worrying in the current Covid climate, their mask was not covering their face! When asked to fix this they replied that if they pulled the mask up they would be unable to breathe and that if we insisted .. they would have to leave ...so we helped them find the door.

We called the office and they said they would speak with them however our confidence in this person was shot. Would they again drop the mask as soon as they thought we were not watching? We noticed that they were on the new rota for a further visit so we called the office to ask them not to send them and were informed that we couldn't pick and choose who did our father's care, an opinion which abruptly changed when we pointed out that it might have been an offence reportable to the local council, on which we were (still are) considering our options.

Whilst the majority of the carers have been excellent in themselves, Elite in my opinion do not keep them properly informed of clients needs and appear to treat clients as simply a way of making money, squeezing in new ones and as a result, changing visit times without warning which is both inconvenient for meal-time / medication arrangements (which in our case Elite do not have responsibility for) and unsettling for those suffering from depression who desperately cling to routine in their lives.

There have been a number of little issues in the past and the local council were aware that we are looking to move to a new care provider but this incident must surely be the game changer. It is almost inconceivable during this pandemic that someone in the care industry would still be making house calls if they couldn't wear PPE correctly. 

I have also heard that some other care establishments have already made it known that the vaccine will be mandatory for all staff (new and existing).