Council care works vehicles...
Discussion
Hi all
Bit of an incident outside my house this morning. Heard a screech and a bit of a bang and noticed there's a white zafira opposite my drive with hazards on. I live 200yds from where an NSL changes to a 40 and it's not uncommon for people to carry some internia through so i went out to check everyone was ok.
The zafira's NSF wheel was pointing decidely inward indicating a tie rod had failed. And there were a few bits of arch liner strewened in the grass verge.
The two people piloting the car were wearing council lanyards and were care workers. They told me they had a disabled person on board and so with a bit of creful driving and me kicking the wheel as it rolled, we managed to get the car onto my driveway to safety. I invited them in whilst they organised assistance and they were inside with tea for an hour or so waiting for a lift.
I offered to take them to their destination to get the disabled person where they needed to be whilst one awaited recovery, but the boss they phoned said i couldn't because of insurance/ safety concenrs. Then, someone turned up to collect them and they all decided to leave! Asking me to wait for the RAC for them. The cheek.
Once they had gone I decided to take a look underneath, only to discover that the tie rod was absolutly fine, it was just NOT CONNECTED to the hub. There was no nut at all holding the ball joint in place(!) and it had just popped out of the knuckle. I grabbed my trolley jack, lifted it and replaced it back in, then went to my restoration project range rover and found a nut that just happened to have the same thread.
What struck me when i got in the car to move it on my drive (was blocking my car in) is the absolute state of it. It's a 12 plate zafira, 220k miles on the clock, with a bald tyre and a disturbing top end engine knock. That's not to mention the fact he was clearly dirivng about with whatever symptoms a unsecure TRE was showing! It was also filthy inside.
Anyone know the craic with these vehicles? How are council support staff, who were taking a mentally disabled adult to college, allowed to be running about in death traps? Why is it not a council car with regular maintenance checks?
Bit of an incident outside my house this morning. Heard a screech and a bit of a bang and noticed there's a white zafira opposite my drive with hazards on. I live 200yds from where an NSL changes to a 40 and it's not uncommon for people to carry some internia through so i went out to check everyone was ok.
The zafira's NSF wheel was pointing decidely inward indicating a tie rod had failed. And there were a few bits of arch liner strewened in the grass verge.
The two people piloting the car were wearing council lanyards and were care workers. They told me they had a disabled person on board and so with a bit of creful driving and me kicking the wheel as it rolled, we managed to get the car onto my driveway to safety. I invited them in whilst they organised assistance and they were inside with tea for an hour or so waiting for a lift.
I offered to take them to their destination to get the disabled person where they needed to be whilst one awaited recovery, but the boss they phoned said i couldn't because of insurance/ safety concenrs. Then, someone turned up to collect them and they all decided to leave! Asking me to wait for the RAC for them. The cheek.
Once they had gone I decided to take a look underneath, only to discover that the tie rod was absolutly fine, it was just NOT CONNECTED to the hub. There was no nut at all holding the ball joint in place(!) and it had just popped out of the knuckle. I grabbed my trolley jack, lifted it and replaced it back in, then went to my restoration project range rover and found a nut that just happened to have the same thread.
What struck me when i got in the car to move it on my drive (was blocking my car in) is the absolute state of it. It's a 12 plate zafira, 220k miles on the clock, with a bald tyre and a disturbing top end engine knock. That's not to mention the fact he was clearly dirivng about with whatever symptoms a unsecure TRE was showing! It was also filthy inside.
Anyone know the craic with these vehicles? How are council support staff, who were taking a mentally disabled adult to college, allowed to be running about in death traps? Why is it not a council car with regular maintenance checks?
Edited by eltax91 on Friday 24th May 14:38
They will most likely be agency staff for someone thats won a lowest bidder care contract with the council, their expected to get themselves to the where ever they need to be so generally drive bangers to keep costs down.
We have them visiting all around our local town visiting people receiving care at home, you can normally tell by the the semi medical clothing and the crap box car. On the whole lovely people that deserve to be paid more, filling a gap in care services that shouldn't exist.
We have them visiting all around our local town visiting people receiving care at home, you can normally tell by the the semi medical clothing and the crap box car. On the whole lovely people that deserve to be paid more, filling a gap in care services that shouldn't exist.
The test driver said:
On the whole lovely people that deserve to be paid more, filling a gap in care services that shouldn't exist.
They were fantastic people. Who wished us all Of gods blessings when we asked them inside. It’s why o tried to help them out so much. They were obviously shook up by the near miss. As was their client. I did wonder if they all left with the lift because they aren’t allowed to travel with the person alone or something?
eltax91 said:
The test driver said:
On the whole lovely people that deserve to be paid more, filling a gap in care services that shouldn't exist.
They were fantastic people. Who wished us all Of gods blessings when we asked them inside. It’s why o tried to help them out so much. They were obviously shook up by the near miss. As was their client. I did wonder if they all left with the lift because they aren’t allowed to travel with the person alone or something?
sam.rog said:
They are probably paid minimum wage. Then get 45ppm to buy, insure, tax, service, fix and cover fuel they use.
Thats not a lot.
When my wife was a carer they didn't even get that. You got enough to cover the fuel only, everything else was on you including parking fees.Thats not a lot.
Even worse they only got paid for time delivering the care. Driving to and from any visits was unpaid. You could do a whole day's work and only be paid for 3 or 4 hours (at minimum wage).
98elise said:
sam.rog said:
They are probably paid minimum wage. Then get 45ppm to buy, insure, tax, service, fix and cover fuel they use.
Thats not a lot.
When my wife was a carer they didn't even get that. You got enough to cover the fuel only, everything else was on you including parking fees.Thats not a lot.
Even worse they only got paid for time delivering the care. Driving to and from any visits was unpaid. You could do a whole day's work and only be paid for 3 or 4 hours (at minimum wage).
t the bed. No wonder they’re running death traps eltax91 said:
98elise said:
sam.rog said:
They are probably paid minimum wage. Then get 45ppm to buy, insure, tax, service, fix and cover fuel they use.
Thats not a lot.
When my wife was a carer they didn't even get that. You got enough to cover the fuel only, everything else was on you including parking fees.Thats not a lot.
Even worse they only got paid for time delivering the care. Driving to and from any visits was unpaid. You could do a whole day's work and only be paid for 3 or 4 hours (at minimum wage).
t the bed. No wonder they’re running death traps Why would anyone agree to be a carer under your wife's contract?
No wonder the sector is massively under staffed. Which leads to people being stuck in hospital at (non A&E) £600-800 a night.
Its disgusting the government hasn’t dealt with this.
sam.rog said:
eltax91 said:
98elise said:
sam.rog said:
They are probably paid minimum wage. Then get 45ppm to buy, insure, tax, service, fix and cover fuel they use.
Thats not a lot.
When my wife was a carer they didn't even get that. You got enough to cover the fuel only, everything else was on you including parking fees.Thats not a lot.
Even worse they only got paid for time delivering the care. Driving to and from any visits was unpaid. You could do a whole day's work and only be paid for 3 or 4 hours (at minimum wage).
t the bed. No wonder they’re running death traps Why would anyone agree to be a carer under your wife's contract?
No wonder the sector is massively under staffed. Which leads to people being stuck in hospital at (non A&E) £600-800 a night.
Its disgusting the government hasn’t dealt with this.
When she left they tried to stiff her out of the last petrol money so I called and said I was on my way to their offices and would be leaving with the money one way or another! They paid up.
It's appauling that they could act that way delivering services on behalf of the council.
sam.rog said:
My example was my mother who did home care. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but it sounds like she had it good. It still isn’t any where close to being enough but she enjoyed the work.
Why would anyone agree to be a carer under your wife's contract?
No wonder the sector is massively under staffed. Which leads to people being stuck in hospital at (non A&E) £600-800 a night.
Its disgusting the government hasn’t dealt with this.
Because there's no votes in it , apart from people with awareness or experience of the sector. Like home to school transport , social care is an "invisible service " which is (partly ) funded by council tax but actually used by a minority of those who pay for it. That doesn't concern me as I think a decent society pays for those who need help . And although budgets are finite , demand isn't . Why would anyone agree to be a carer under your wife's contract?
No wonder the sector is massively under staffed. Which leads to people being stuck in hospital at (non A&E) £600-800 a night.
Its disgusting the government hasn’t dealt with this.
There's more votes in bloody potholes - a problem in some (but by no means all) areas .
98elise said:
sam.rog said:
They are probably paid minimum wage. Then get 45ppm to buy, insure, tax, service, fix and cover fuel they use.
Thats not a lot.
When my wife was a carer they didn't even get that. You got enough to cover the fuel only, everything else was on you including parking fees.Thats not a lot.
Even worse they only got paid for time delivering the care. Driving to and from any visits was unpaid. You could do a whole day's work and only be paid for 3 or 4 hours (at minimum wage).
During the beast from the east when roads were closed and buses cancelled I managed to make my way down to mum's house assuming that no carers could get there. I arrived at the same time as a middle aged lady who was freezing and soaked from the knees down. She had walked miles in appalling conditions to get there.
These were the loveliest hard working people you could hope to meet but treated appallingly by their employers. Absolutely disgraceful.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff