Leading Cambridgeshire-based care agency Midas Care is calling on those who need help to live independently to be kind to care workers by thinking ahead whether they are needed on Christmas Day.
Many families and friends visit at Christmas and often provide the necessary support to loved-ones which they can’t manage at other times of the year.
By encouraging them to cancel the care worker’s appointment, Midas Care hopes it can give more of its staff a well-earned festive day off.
Midas Care, which is contracted by Cambridgeshire County Council to provide home care in the region, carries out more than 22 thousand visits a month and on 365 days of the year.
In letters to service users and their families, their managing director Matt Sumner has been urging them to think ahead whether they really need their care workers on Christmas Day.
“We care very much for all our service users and, of course, our staff, especially at such an important time as Christmas Day”, he said.
“We sometimes find that care workers are sent home because families have been willing to help loved-ones themselves instead. Giving us notice that care workers aren’t needed allows us to let our care teams spend valuable time with their own families and save public money which can be put to good use elsewhere in the care system.”
According to figures from Cambridgeshire County Council, care in the community supporting older people and adults with physical disabilities across the county, costs around £45,000 per day.
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