Messages
From WeHomeCare
This section describes WeHomeCare's own product.
With a sister writing to the care team one week and a cousin the next, it can be hard to tell which of you asked what, or who passed which message on.
Who takes part
NICE's guideline on people's experience of adult social care in England says that where a person would like family, friends or others involved, the principles of confidentiality should be explained, and what that involvement would mean should be talked over with the person and those people together. The same NICE guideline for England says providers should make sure the person's care and support plan spells out what involvement they want from family, friends, unpaid carers and advocates.
Your parent's place in it
The Social Care Institute for Excellence in the UK describes a person's autonomy as including being supported and informed where they need and want that. HIQA and Safeguarding Ireland, in their guidance for staff in health and social care services in Ireland, recognise the right of people using a service to decide how much information about their own needs they want to receive, if any.
Who writes to the care team, and about what sort of thing, are worth settling with your parent and the provider together.
These bodies speak for England, the UK and Ireland, and practice where your parent lives may not match theirs.
Where brothers, sisters and others all want a hand in it, Sharing the load with siblings and family looks at dividing things up.
For families
WeHomeCare can be set up so family members and the care team write to each other in one place.
How WeHomeCare is set up differs from one care provider to another, so it is worth asking a provider which parts it uses.
We think your parent should decide what their family sees, and you can ask any care provider how it makes that possible.
Learn more on wehomecare.com(opens an external site)
wehomecare.com is WeHomeCare's site for care providers.
For care providers
WeHomeCare can be set up so the care team sees and answers messages from families in one place.
What it is not
Visit updates and messages from a care provider are not a way to reach urgent help.
Visit updates and messages are not health advice, and questions about a parent's health are worth bringing to their doctor or care team.
Sources
The outside sources this page draws on.
Primary: Taken from the official source itself, and cited directly. Secondary: Established in recognised guidance, summarised here.
- PrimaryNICE (England), People's experience in adult social care services: improving the experience of care and support for people using adult social care services (NG86), 20 February 2018
- SecondarySocial Care Institute for Excellence (UK), Freedom to choose and dignity in care, no date given
- PrimaryHIQA and Safeguarding Ireland (Ireland), Guidance on a Human Rights-based Approach in Health and Social Care Services, 2019
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