After 10 years with the same home care provider, Kerrie switched to The CareSide and found simpler statements, better value and the continuity of care she’d been missing. Here’s her story.
Starting Aged Care
It’s hard to question Kerrie Duffey’s loyalty. She stayed with her previous aged care provider for more than a decade, and while things worked well in the early days, a marked shift occurred in the last few years.
‘It just became more and more of a battle,’ Kerrie shares. ‘And it got to the point where it just wasn’t worth the aggravation. It was giving me a headache to even think about it.’
A proud mum of four and grandmother of nine, Kerrie started aged care support 15 years ago, when her husband Brian fell seriously ill with cardiomyopathy.
‘The doctors told him to go home and get his affairs in order because he wasn’t going to have a very long life,’ she recalls. ‘And because I had so many health concerns and he was the person who did everything for me, the hospital social worker suggested I get aged care support.’
Kerrie was assessed and granted a Level 4 Home Care Package, and Brian received a Level 2 package.
‘In those days, most of my problems were with my body, like my shoulder didn’t work so I couldn’t hang washing on the line, or I felt very unsteady on my feet when I was showering,’ she explains.
That’s when Kerrie and Brian signed up with their first aged care provider. Despite his prognosis, Brian didn’t need much support at that stage. The focus instead was on Kerrie, who had been diagnosed with diabetes and then suffered a stroke in quick succession.
The stroke left her with aphasia, a neurological disorder that primarily impairs language. She found the support of her care provider to be especially valuable at this time.
‘My first case manager was absolutely fabulous,’ she remembers. ‘She bent over backwards to do things for me, and everything was sailing along quite smoothly.’
Kerrie began speech, hydro and physiotherapy at Neuro Alliance, a purpose-built facility for people with neurological problems.
‘It’s been a lifesaver,’ Kerrie says. ‘When I first started, I wasn’t capable of doing much. I couldn’t put a sentence together, and the speech pathology made a huge difference. I could walk, but I had absolutely no balance. The physios taught me how to be fall-proof.’
A Decline in Care
Over time, cracks started to appear with her aged care provider. Then things took a turn for the worse.
‘The company seemed to change,’ Kerrie says. ‘It’s like they got bigger overnight, and nobody answered my calls. And then my care manager left.’
While her new care manager was helpful, Kerrie could tell she was run off her feet.
‘I’d ring her five or six times before I actually spoke to her. She’d always get back to me, but it was very frustrating.’
It also seemed like her funding covered less and less.
‘They started charging on top of what Neuro Alliance was charging me, which I think is sort of beyond the pale,’ Kerrie says. ‘And then another fee came in and another one, and it [stretched] beyond my package.’
‘That’s where it all started to disintegrate. That’s what started to make me angry—and I’m not a person who gets angry!’
Soon, Kerrie reached her tipping point.
‘They kept changing my workers all the time, and I told them I need continuity. I need to know who’s walking in and out of my house and what they’re doing.’
A Chance Encounter
Changing care providers can feel like a big decision, especially when you’ve been with the same one for more than 10 years. Kerrie didn’t deliberately seek a new provider—she found one by chance.
‘I was at the hospital one day, and I was on Facebook because I was bored,’ she says. ‘I saw an ad for The CareSide and completed the online form.’
Kerrie vividly remembers thinking that nothing would come of it, but what happened next made an immediate impression.
‘Before I even left the hospital, I got a message from Sharon [a Care Manager at The CareSide]. She got straight back to me!’ Kerrie recalls. ‘She was absolutely beautiful. She kept reassuring me everything was fine and not to worry. She couldn’t do enough.’
During that initial conversation, Kerrie made it clear that she would transfer her care on one condition: that she could keep Neuro Alliance as one of her care providers.
‘[My previous provider] told me I had to drop Neuro Alliance, but The CareSide said I could keep all of it,’ she says. ‘To me, that was the most important thing.’
Her Favourite Parts
Today, both Kerrie and her husband, Brian, are with The CareSide. She continues to attend her thrice-weekly speech, hydro and physiotherapy sessions at Neuro Alliance, and the couple also receives cleaning and gardening services through their Support at Home funding.
Kerries says the difference between The CareSide and her previous provider is like ‘chalk and cheese.’ For one thing, her statements are much easier to understand.
‘I honestly felt like I needed to have a finance degree to read the statements from my last provider!’ she laughs. ‘I’d ask a legitimate and pertinent question about something, and I felt like I was being fobbed off. It just felt so wrong to be told, “You’re an old lady, go away!”’
Affordability is another advantage.
‘It’s so much cheaper—my package goes much further,’ she says.
Advocating for Change
Through her weekly church volunteer work, Kerrie meets many older people who are also struggling with their aged care providers.
‘They’re so dissatisfied. They’re really cheesed off with what’s happening to them because every time they ask for something, they’re told, “No, you can’t have that,”’ she says.
Kerrie shares her experience with The CareSide with them and how she believes switching providers could make their lives easier. But like many home care recipients, they’re hesitant to change.
‘Honestly, I cannot recommend The CareSide more highly because I really feel that you will save money and be treated like a real person. That’s the honest truth. If I didn’t feel it, I wouldn’t say it!’ she laughs.
