1. The whole purpose of taking on a live-in carer is to enable you to receive whatever help is required so that you can enjoy a comfortable life in the familiar surroundings of your own home.

2. For this arrangement to succeed there are one or two ground rules which should be observed:

• a) The carer must at the very least have her own bedroom. A television set for her personal viewing is also popular. Please ensure that your household budget is sufficient to provide a healthy and balanced diet for yourself and your carer.
• b) Remember that our carers are self-employed and should be paid at the agreed rate before they leave. You are also responsible for travel expenses up to a maximum of £40 per week, unless the journey is judged to be unusually long.
• c) However grateful you may feel for a job well done, please do not offer the carer any gratuities. Such generosity could be misconstrued at a later date and besides, the carer is not supposed to receive any gifts. Please respect this.
• d) Although our carers are in your home for 24 hours, we ask that you agree that they should enjoy at least two hours free time each day. Consideration must be given to the length of their working day.
• e) Carers receive double their agreed rate for working on a statutory bank holiday. If this coincides with a change-over day the incoming carer receives the double rate providing she arrives before 2.00 p.m.

3. If you want your carers to drive your car, please check that your insurance policy provides adequate cover. Corinium is not liable should there be an accident. It is the client's responsibility to insure the carers to drive their cars. Be particularly careful if your carer is under 25 years old.

4. A Green Care File will be sent to the client at the start of the care package. The Green Care File is the property of Corinium, but is available for the client to read at any time or with the client's permission for anyone directly involved with the carers to read it. This is a reference work for the use of your carer. It contains copies of your care plan, risk assessments and daily information regarding the routine to enable a smooth handover from carer to carer. It will contain a copy of our health and safety, moving and handling and medication guidelines as well as our medication recommendations. It will also contain a list of certain tasks our carers cannot undertake (such as injections, toenail cutting etc...) Please note your records may be referred to during any subsequent inspection by the NCSI.

5. The success of a care package clearly depends on the rapport between client and carer. Inevitably there are occasions when things do not work out, in which case we will change the carer. However experience has taught us that a touch of understanding from both parties nearly always results in a satisfactory solution - which after all is said and done, is the whole point of the exercise!

6. Corinium Care believes that the client’s confidentiality is paramount.