February 2023 by Jacques Obringer
We contacted this company for temporary support for our 42 year old disabled son whose dedicated carer is off sick long term, whose mother is ill and father due to travel for 10 days. They confirmed they could cover the one morning and one evening hour and then sent their Quality Manager for an assessment. She was great, made a very good impression and promised to my son to be present on the first day to make sure everything would be fine and gave him a number to ring should he have an issue during the care period. To be honest it was a bit too good to be true and OTT. When I rang her back 3 hours later to confirm we had selected Heart to Heart for this care cover, she told me they had not realised it was for 2 weeks only and could not provide the service (this after her manager by phone and herself during the visit confirmed the could and would cover all the hours required). I asked to speak to the person who made this decision, Alice, deputy manager, and she told me 3 times that ?it makes no business sense to offer this cover? (never mentioning any availability or manning issue, which I knew they did not have) and was extremely unfriendly. So I asked to speak to the manager, Alison, who was the person I contacted initially. She was unavailable but would be asked to call me back. But never got any call.It was heartbreaking, awful and disheartening to be treated like this when, for instance we cared for hour son - on our own- for 14.5 months during the Covid cris, and then several times after when the dedicated carer was unavailable. We never asked for help or special treatment from any one; just went on with it.I phoned Alison, HtH?s manager the next morning and was then told:- she had been unaware it was a short term cover- the initial investment in paper work/administration was too much for such a short period- she would not have the resources to provide the cover!!! ( totally different to the 2 previous confirmation of availability)- in case of emergency my son should go in respite care!!!! Just imagine wrecking a disabled person?s life, when/if the dedicated carer and voluntary careers ( the parents) cannot look after him and a Care Agency, like HtH, WHO DEFINITELY HAS THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE WILL NOT PROVIDE TEMPORARY CARE ?. JUST BECAUSE ?.IT DOESN?T MAKE ANY BUSINESS SENSE.- then, as a parting note of a very disagreeable conversion, Alison wished me ?Good Luck?. ? TWICE!!! Incredible!What are we supposed to do as aging parents/ carers of disabled adults when we are facing such a wall of indifference, coldness and even sarcasm by specialised Care Agencies?I have already reported HtH to Warrington Social Service and a complaint is logged with themUnder advice from WSS I raised a complaint against HtH with the Care Quality CommissionI am in the process of contacting media and elected representatives, to raise this kind of issues in general, highlighted by HtH?s awful behaviour.As openly available on public records, the Directors of ?Heart to Heart Care Limited? listed by Company House are:- Foster, Roger Philip- Owens, Cheryl- Owens, David Roy MarkWarrington, Cheshire, WA2 7NA