Routes Healthcare - Huddersfield

Emma S.

My brother and I took it in turns to live in with Dad when he was discharged from hospital for palliative care at home. Routes came out to assess his needs and provided 4 visits a day to help with washing, going to the toilet (commode) and medication. Towards the end they reassessed his needs and provided two carers per visit. The staff were caring (special mention to the very lovely Sarah), listened to Dad's wishes and treated him with dignity and respect. They helped us to make Dad's last few weeks more comfortable - thank you!

Ann B.

Avoid this company at all cost. No compassion or empathy. Broke the hospital bed on the 1st day. Showed absolutely no care for the patients needs. I'm just so glad that the patient was not alone at home otherwise they would have been left in an uncomfortable position. I would have given no stars if it was an option. Fortunately we have been able to switch care companies

Helen C.

We have very good care and service with Routes from both the lovely carers and the management. They look after my mum’s needs very well including her challenging little dog!! . We are very grateful and very pleased with the service. Thank you x

Rachel L.

Appalling service, avoid if possible, my father in law was signed up to their service after being discharged from hospital being diagnosed with terminal cancer and end of life care, he was allocated 4 visits per day. His allocation slots were ridiculous, breakfast 9:30, lunch 11:15, tea 5:15, bed 6:30! Hence he was alone for over 14hrs this is surely bordering on neglect ! I would have given 0 stars if possible!

K W.

We had a lot of problems with this company unfortunately. They sent male carers for a female patient's shower call. They sent carers who were full of cold, coughing and sneezing. A common cold would be disastrous for an immunocompromised patient but they were sent anyway. One carer had a pungent smell on her which we believe must have been from her previous patient, obviously this was very upsetting given the close contact for a shower call.

Carers would turn up at random times even though we specified a a certain time. One time a carer apologised for being late when he came at 9am because he was booked in for 6.30am. Someone who is receiving palliative care obviously doesn't want to be woken up at 6.30am for a shower.

I very much suspect that this company deliberately send out unsuitable carers because they know that patients will send them away. The company get paid, but do no work. Patients won't want to get ill from a carer coughing and sneezing and they will want to keep their dignity rather than be showered by someone of the opposite sex. The carers actually said they don't even know what is wrong with the patient. How on earth can a carer do their job if they don't even know what is wrong with the patient?

Carers were sent from all over the place, Bradford, Pudsey, Leeds etc, doing huge journeys between jobs instead of local. Very bad logistics.

The patient is hard of hearing so if a carer comes and no one answers the door, they will just leave quickly rather than ring the person listed as a contact to see if they can open the door.

Sometimes we didn't need a shower call so I did ask the company to ask the carers to call us to check, rather than wasting journeys, but they mostly never bothered, just one carer made the effort. They were more concerned about claiming the money for the calls even if they were wasted.

It was different carers every day too, no consistency so you can't build up a relationship with them, how you like to be washed etc.

When we complained, they promised to sort things out and seemed reassuring, but still a carer turned up full of cold, but with a mask on, even though we specifically said that even with a mask that would be no good!

Overall extremely disappointed with the service from Routes and I find it bizarre how they have obviously won a contract from the NHS to provide healthcare and this funding clearly isn't being used to provide actual care.

Luckily Kirkwood helped us find an alternative care provider who are actually local and they really are are a world apart, very thankful indeed. They must only get the same funding from the NHS, but they actually use it to pay decent carers. The new company actually came out and spoke to the patient to find her needs etc, Routes never bothered doing this. The new company use an online portal which details the care given to the patient each day, Routes just had a booklet filled out and left with the patient.

Avoid at all costs, though like us, you may just be stuck with them at first when your loved one requires care. Complain and get a different provider if you are not happy. It was very upsetting for us, it felt like there was no dignity given.

James G.

Cared for my relative for 6 months. Carers were amazing and would highly recommend!

David A.

Unfortunately, the management of this care company lack the experience within the field of care to actually care about their customers well being and/or safeguarding. The management lack empathy and sit in the offices at Independence House, Huddersfield and distance themselves from the day to day care of their clients. My recent experience has demonstrated that emails/complaints/communication is the least of the concerns of the management and any complaints will result in co-workers looking into complaints made against co-workers and as a result nothing will ever change. I recently had to change care providers due to lack of consistency/care and raised this matter with the management, the management failed to respond to the issues I had raised and simply acknowledged a complaint had been made without any reply/response to the complaint in had. I was advised that the complaint would be dealt with within 30 days. In the meantime they expect you to continue to put up with the issues you are complaining about without regard to the care, health and well being of their clients.

The welcome letter they provide suggests that operate on a principle of customers being "given a voice to make decisions around the care they will receive” and goes onto explain they you operate on a principle of “no decisions about me, without me”. This so called principle is very much overlooked as they are more akin to we “we will provide you with the care that we sit fit, do not complain, if you dare complain then we will make life difficult for you”.. They treat complaints with disdain, are very defensive and provide obstacles at every point after any complaint has been made. The management should not be working within the care industry at all and do little service to clients and the front-line workers who are providing the care within the community. It is, after all, the caseworkers and the clients that are left to deal with the consequences of the poor decisions that the management of this company makes.

Avoid at all costs as the management do not care. The care has to start from the top down and our recent experience shows that the management have a lot to learn. They simply fail to listen to the carers, the clients and cover themselves when any complaint arises…

If i could give less than one star I would..

Taj S.

A well managed care provider. The care staff are generally good and have a compassionate attitude. Providing good care is an uphill climb with lots of barriers and complications but Routes Kirklees get it right when given the chance to.

Update: A carer accidentally damaged our property, we paid £165 to have it fixed. The office then spent a year ignoring our emails, phone calls and face to face requests. The company only offered to pay for the damage 18months later when the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman called them.