French social care for elderly

Health Care & Carte Vitale
1281

All was fine this morning but just now Laura arrived and once again she is refusing. I went in there to try to coax her but she lost her temper again and turned on me so I came away.

Laura is trying again at the moment but she says to me that she won’t force her. Trouble is the language again and I can’t go in there to translate.

She has left now, full of apologies but it is not her fault. I don’t know where to go from here.

Edit: BTW I asked Laura if she was afraid of the dangerous dog, while holding his collar lightly. She replied, while making a fuss of him ‘Chien? Je ne peu pas voir un chien’ :rofl:
And then went on to say that none of them agreed with the restrictions.

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1282

Or one could view it as an employer who takes their responsibilities seriously. One dog bit is one dog bite too many and they are responsible for not sending their staff into dangerous situations. Yes perhaps there could be some form of disclaimer to say you take responsibility for your dog and any harm it might cause. But sadly in law someone has to have the responsibility.

We had an aide some time ago when I needed it and same restrictions applied. We actually ignored them, with the complete agreement of the aide concerned.

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1283

Why on earth would I sign a disclaimer? Dogs walk free in public places, and on leads, nobody asks for a disclaimer for them. The rule is well over the top. If they had the welfare of their staff at heart they should ask them what they think. Every last one of them has disagreed with this decision and now, if they follow the rule, which I doubt they will, they will have to stand in the rain outside the gate until I leave the house to put him in the car, then, wait inside until I have gone outside to put him back in again. Letitia suggested that I could stand with him, holding his collar, on the terrasse while they go in and out. Laura didn’t even wait at the gate yesterday.

He loves all of them and howls with excitement when he sees the cars arrive, and then the howls again when they leave. They all make a fuss of him and his nickname is Jaques Brel because his distress at parting reminds them of the pitiful, ‘Tu me quitte pas’. :rofl:

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1284

:slight_smile: Jacques Brel :slight_smile:

1285

I’m afraid we will have to disagree on this. If one’s dog bit someone in a public park it is obvious that the owner would be liable. However if it happened in your home to someone who was there as part of their employment then the employer has a duty of care to their staff and so would be jointly liable.

I imagine the Agency deals with hundreds and hundreds of households so the safest thing is a blanket ban. It would be preferable to us to sign a disclaimer, since we have complete confidence in our dog, than have to put him in the garden.

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1286

But it hasn’t happened in our home, nor is it likely to. This is a sledgehammer to crack a nut where the nut doesn’t even exist. Next thing you know they will ban me from their presence if somebody else makes an attack on one of them. Would that be justified as part of their duty of care? I don’t think so.

Anyway, Perrine has just been and gone, she didn’t wait one second at the gate while I locked away the dangerous animal, which of course I didn’t because she passed the point between gate and door before I would be able to get out of the house to lock him in the car. So I have no chance at all to comply with this rule, even if I wanted to, the aides, the people who matter won’t let me to.

The other good news is that Fran, though grumpy and saying before she arrived that she wouldn’t allow her attention, did so in the end while I kept well out of the way.

1287

I agree, but it did exist in someone else’s house so employer now has no choice. Same way lots of places no longer allow any dogs because a few dog owners allowed their dogs to behave badly.

We went on a walk this morning that was organised and led by our natural park. It was advertised as no dogs, and we saw little point in going if we then had to take the dog for a walk afterwards. We contacted them and said we would take responsibility for our dog and sign to that effect. So dog came too. Very similar thing in that they were not prepared to take responsibility for unknown dogs, and as it was organised by them they would have responsibility.

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1288

I don’t wish to labour the point but this isn’t an unknown dog, as in your case, this is an extremely very well known dog by the entire team that visits this house.

Anyway, by default, it may turn out that things do not change. This is because I have written in reply to the effect that there is nowhere in the house for the dog to be isolated and that therefore the only recourse is to put him in the car. As I don’t know in advance when they arrive each time that will have to be when they arrive and push the bell at the gate, then, to avoid them coming into contact with Jules on the way to the car, the only place where I can put him, they will have to wait until he is safely inside before opening the gate.

I have little doubt that they will be through the gate and halfway to the house before I can even get out of the house with him. If that happens I will have fulfilled my obligation to the new rule. :grinning:

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1289

What makes this whole thing so stupid is that no one is listening to the aides.
If they are agreeable to having Jules in the house with themm, that should be it.

1290

Indeed, the aides are not only agreeable, they encourage Jules and are happy to return his excited greetings.

1291

It would be interesting to see whether they would sign to release both employer and @David_Spardo from liability. If they would then perhaps I agree. Otherwise whether they say they’re happy or not will make no difference if one should get bitten and then decide to sue their employer for lost wages and pain and suffering , which is all this is about at the end of the day. I’m not familiar enough with French law to know if it’s even possible to release an employer from a duty of care like that, in some countries it is, and some it absolutely isn’t.

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1292

Not just bitten, but trip over dog and break hip, catch toxocariasis, anything that means they need medical attention and/or have time off work.

1293

This all started when one aide was bitten, now you are finding as many ways a dog can cause an problem.
How about dogs make you smile, give affection and are all round good eggs.

1294

There is much in such a small house for them to trip over, apart from Jules, but I am mindful of that and keep him out of the way while they are here, it is just that they cannot be isolated completely from him unless they wait at the gate, and so far, despite the instruction they have never waited, not even pushed the bell sometimes in which case the first I know they are here is when they make me jump appearing suddenly beside me on the other side of the door. So I reckon they have made their decision.

As far as a bite is concerned they are more likely to get that from Fran (remember they have their fingers in her mouth, removing and replacing her teeth), she has already hit one of them, sworn with furious anger at another and head butted me on 2 occasions. Considering her extreme weakness there is much power there to hurt someone.

For a week now there have been some traces of blood in her urine and I have been given a container for the morning team to take a sample tomorrow morning. A possible urinary infection. Not sure when we will get the result, but from previous experience it has been usually within 24 hours.

1295

No, I am merely being rèalistic about an employer’s responsibilities for their staff and the impossibility of making different rules for different people. It is nothing to do with liking or not liking dogs (after all I have had a dog since I was 3).

In these days of insurance and litigation one can’t live in a fairy tale.

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1296

People are out to screw what they can out of others these days via litigation regardless of the cause, people have become greedy, self centred and ignorant now!

1297

Well the urine test came to nothing. Marie-Neige and her offsider were willing enough to help but asked me to ask Fran if she wanted to pee. She said no, so they shrugged their shoulders and I left the room. Next I heard a shout and went back to see that she had decided to after all, but they didn’t have the container ready out of the package because they said it would not have been sterile if not used immediately. :roll_eyes:

So she rang and left a message with the nurses saying something about a sonde. :astonished:
So much more easy being a man. :joy:

1298

You have no idea. :slight_smile:

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1299

You can say that again, gets harder to go in the great outdoors the older you get and the creakier your knees become. Last time I ventured behind a bush, I got chased out again by huge ants threatening to run up my legs.

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1300

Some sad news now for devotees of this thread. At 1.45 this morning Fran died peacefully in her sleep after being taken to hospital yesterday. She had been barely conscious all day, had very bad breathing and almost impossible to clear all the junk in her throat. She couldn’t eat more than 3 spoonfuls of porridge and then only when being fed by me. She couldn’t drink. Her eyes were almost closed.

Eventually the Aide Soignante called 15 and the pompiers arrived soon after. Lots of tests and putting her back on oxygen before loading her up for Perigueux.

Marie-Paule our neighbour was there throughout and rang the hospital later in the evening to find out how she was. The doctor said she was dying and it would be soon so she was now on palliative care. When I pinned her down, as to the meaning of ‘soon’ she said within an hour or so. No chance of driving down there even if I could drive in the dark which is very difficult for me now, so M-P agreed that we should go this morning. When I went to collect her she said she had received a call in the early hours to say that Fran had died. The plan therefore changed and we went to the funeral place where lots of details were taken and signed for, after I had quietened the young lady down who was shouting because ‘I am so used to talking to aged people’. I had both deaf aids in so was having my ears blown off. I suspect she had a touch of the British disease of shouting at foreigners to make them suddenly understand the language.

Later I saw my friend, the new maire and I will go the the office tomorrow morning to sort all the documents out there, including paying for a double plot, since the late maire last year had told me to come back when we died .

Tuesday I can go and see Fran. I have told them on no account to paint or powder her face, no makeup at all. Just brushing out her hair, amazingly still blond towards the ends and replacing the teeth that were taken out by the ambulance crew. I know, despite the ravages of time that she is beautiful, I don’t want them spoiling that, she didn’t wear, or need, makeup in life and she certainly doesn’t need it for a few days in death.

At some point in the week I have to go to the Notaire to do whatever has to be done there regarding our Donation Entre Epoux agreement. I have spent much of today trying to get in touch with all her family in England and Ireland, no mean feat, they are a fractured lot but I did get a very nice phone call from her daughter.

Finally, the Aides. They have all been brilliant and have all become friends, it is going to be a lonely few weeks for me now, and not just missing Fran. But 2 have been outstanding, Annabel and Christine and I have gone so far as to say that they were the most important people in her life over the last couple of years. She had her tantrums with most of them from time to time, but these 2 were the only ones who were guaranteed to make her face light up and break into a beautiful smile. So of all the people who might come to the funeral on Friday, if these 2 can’t get the time off I will force a change of time. We might have a light meal afterwards at lunchtime.

Last but not least, @toryroo , I know you probably could not take the timeout because I know how busy you are and we are not close in distance, but if you do want to come and can, you will be most welcome. It is set for 10am on Friday the 7th of June at the cemetary of St. Front la Riviere 24300.

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