Puzzled

This morning I rang the care agency to cancel next Monday's visit by Angie. We're off to the hospital in the morning & can't be sure we will be back in time.

This I thought was routine. 

Just as I was about to put the phone down, I suddenly get ask if we have many vouchers left. 

"A few," I reply.

"Well, you want to use them all up before the end of March. Otherwise the council will reduce the number of vouchers you get next financial year. Ask Angie when she is available to fit you in for a few extra hours."

The vouchers in question are for respite care. We use them to pay for Angie to keep the place reasonably clean. The Fox prefers to keep his energies for the more physical care I require, such as getting up from chairs, putting me to bed, taking me out to have a social life, being around in case I have need of help in the shower, cooking me a couple of meals a week, making me mugs of tea. 

As far as I can see the council doesn't actually spends the money on the vouchers until they are redeemed at a care agency. Surely, therefore, if I don't use the vouchers, the council will find itself in the happy position of finding it's got more money in the coffers at the end of the financial year than they expected. Part of the reason we have a few left is the fact we didn't start getting the vouchers until a few weeks after the start of the financial year due to the timing of the Fox's stroke. They gave us enough vouchers for one hour's worth of paid help for a full year. The only weeks we haven't used the vouchers has been when we have had medical appointments, the one week when we were cruising along the Rhine & over the Christmas/New Year period.

The other odd thing is that the care agency has never guaranteed that Angie would always be the person giving the service. Indeed I gather from Angie, when she's mentioned to other clients she was having a few days off & the agency has heard about it, they have been very stroppy with her as it's against their rules. Too many people cancel, losing the agency money. So why this time, am I being told to arrange the extra shifts specifically with Angie rather than the agency's admin?

Or is the agency just seeing a way of getting extra money? We're not sure we want more than one hour's visit a week. It is tying & it's not as though we're that dirty! 

I suppose I'll have a think about it & talk it over with the Fox & with Angie in a fortnight's time. Meanwhile I'll have to get around to applying for next year's vouchers. The Fox still does not feel he could cope with doing all the care on his own these days, post stroke.