Agency staff, PAT testing and fridge checks in my home — Easy Read

It is still your home

Having staff visit does not by itself make the agency your landlord or give it general powers over your belongings. Agree access, keys, private rooms, storage and any use of your facilities. A care agreement and a housing agreement are different things. Other people may have rights under a tenancy, ownership arrangements or a specific legal authority; check the actual arrangements. Ask for a reason before staff photograph belongings, move possessions or introduce monitoring. Support should respect your privacy, dignity and ordinary home life.

Safety duties still matter

A private home is not automatically outside workplace health-and-safety law. HSE says the position depends on the work and arrangements; agency carers are unlikely to fall within the exception for workers employed exclusively in domestic service. Providers must consider risks to people receiving care and to staff. CQC-regulated services must also assess and reduce care-related risks. Ask for an assessment of your actual needs, equipment and support tasks, with you involved. A care-home checklist should not simply replace that assessment.

Ask whether it is law, guidance or agency policy

These are different. Ask the agency to identify the particular requirement, where it comes from and why it applies to your arrangements. An internal policy does not become a legal power over your home just because the agency calls it mandatory. However, an agency may set lawful, reasonable safety conditions for work it undertakes. Discuss whether its approach is necessary, proportionate and consistent with your rights, care plan and contract. Where it cannot meet your preference, ask for an explanation and safe alternatives.

PAT testing is not automatically annual

PAT means portable appliance testing. The relevant electrical-safety duty is to keep equipment safe; HSE says the law does not prescribe universal annual PAT testing. The kind and frequency of inspection or testing depend on the equipment, its use, condition and risks. Some faults are found by visual checks; others need suitable testing by a competent person. Ask which items need checking and why. A blanket claim that the law requires every personal appliance to have a yearly PAT sticker is inaccurate.

Consider each item and who uses it

A kettle staff use to prepare your drinks may need different consideration from a personal device they do not use. Staff being present does not automatically make every possession work equipment. Ownership alone does not settle the issue either: unsafe items can create fire or other risks to everyone. The agency can avoid using unsafe equipment and should discuss a safe alternative. Agree who supplies, maintains or replaces equipment and who pays. Separate requirements can apply to lifting equipment, medical devices and landlord responsibilities.

Fridge checks can be reasonable

Checking the fridge can be justified where staff help store or prepare food, or an identified risk needs managing. The Food Standards Agency recommends a household food fridge temperature of 0–5°C and a thermometer check weekly. This is household advice, not an automatic daily-chart rule for everyone receiving care. A particular care plan or food-safety system may justify more frequent checks or records. Ask what risk is being controlled, how often checks are needed, who records them and what happens if a reading is wrong.

Food-business rules depend on the arrangements

Food-law guidance recognises an exemption for private domestic preparation, handling and storage for private consumption. It also says domiciliary or assisted-living care operations need food-business registration where they meet the legal definition. Neither a private address nor the presence of paid carers settles every case. If the agency relies on food-business duties, ask which operation and rule it means. The council’s environmental health team can advise on the actual food arrangements. Monitoring food safety and writing down every temperature reading are not the same requirement.

Refrigerated medicines need their own plan

If staff support you with medicines that need refrigeration, agree safe storage and any necessary monitoring with the provider and pharmacist. Follow the medicine’s storage instructions; do not apply the food-fridge temperature range to all medicines. Agree what staff should do after an incorrect reading or power failure. CQC’s home-care guidance says a fridge storing medicines must work properly, but daily temperature checks are not automatically required. Its home-care and supported-living guidance does not require a separate medicines fridge in your own home. The correct arrangement depends on your medicines and support needs.

Other checks should have a clear purpose

Checking bath water may protect someone who cannot reliably detect heat or move away. Suitable hoists, safe moving and handling, and infection-control measures can be necessary for particular support. Ask how each measure relates to your circumstances, and whether a less intrusive method works. Separate a useful safety precaution from an unnecessary restriction. Locks, constant monitoring or limits on access to your rooms and belongings need their own lawful basis; a general health-and-safety policy is not enough by itself.

Consent and capacity are about the particular decision

Staff should explain proposed care, risks and options in a way you understand. You can question or decline particular support. A disability or a decision others consider unwise does not by itself mean you lack capacity. Support decision-making first. If you lack capacity for this decision, any action must follow the Mental Capacity Act, including best interests and consideration of less restrictive options. A signed care contract is not consent to every future intervention. Consent also does not require staff to provide unsafe care.

Agree costs, records and review dates

Ask who is responsible for each check and any equipment or repair cost: the provider, equipment owner, landlord or funder may have different responsibilities. Do not assume you must pay every cost, or that the agency must pay every cost. Check the contract and funding plan before agreeing charges. Ask what information is recorded, who sees it, where it is kept and when the arrangement will be reviewed. The provider cannot remove its own legal responsibilities merely by allocating tasks in a contract.

Challenge a requirement while protecting essential support

Ask the manager for the written reason, relevant assessment and alternative ways to deliver safe support. Record your wishes and any disagreement. Involve the council or NHS commissioner that arranged or funds care, and request a review if necessary. An advocate can help you be heard. Staff do not have to perform an immediately unsafe task; ask promptly for safe interim arrangements so essential needs are addressed. If unresolved, use the provider and relevant council or NHS complaints process. CQC can receive concerns about regulated care but does not settle individual complaints. Get specific advice if the dispute threatens your care or housing.

My home and agency safety checks

It is your home

Support must be safe

Ask why

Electrical checks

Look at the actual risk

Checking my fridge

Medicines in my fridge

My choices matter

Agree the costs

Keep records private

Ask about other ways

Get help with disagreements

What you can do next

More useful links

Agency staff in my home: choices, safety checks and my rights