‘Cinderella’ carers paid pittance and not valued
CARERS are the “Cinderellas” of the social care sector compared to doctors and nurses in the NHS, MPs were told by dedicated staff.
They highlighted how they are paid less, endure worse working conditions and do not feel as valued, despite being trained to do many of the same roles like administering crucial medication.
The Health and Social Care Committee heard from carers and managers yesterday after the industry was put in the spotlight by the coronavirus pandemic.
Sue Ann Balcombe, manager at the Priscilla Wakefield House Nursing Home in North London, told them: “We’re seen as the underdogs and the Cinderellas.”
The UK Homecare Association says carers’ wages should be at least £21-an-hour, but data from 139 local authorities shows the median is only £17.20. Chief executive Jane Townson hit out: “We’ve got 13 councils paying less than £15 an hour.
“That doesn’t even cover the national legal minimum wage and statutory employment costs.
“We believe it should be illegal for councils to purchase care at rates as low as that.”
She blamed low pay for the 43 per cent turnover rate for staff.
“Just imagine a clinical commissioning group saying to an NHS trust “we’re only going to pay nurses every minute they’re by a patient’s bedside and we’re going to electronically tag them to find out when they’re there,” she said to the committee.
“And we’re not going to pay them when they’re moving from one patient’s bed to the next.
“We’re not going to pay them when they’re supervised, we’re not going to pay them when they’re doing any training. Can you imagine the outcry there would be in the NHS under those conditions?
“But that’s what care providers are expected to do every day.”
Mel Cairnduff, a social care worker with home care provider Agincare, said colleagues were unfairly seen as unskilled and not valued in the community.
“There’s so many things that we do that nurses used to do yet
we don’t get recognised, we’re classed as unskilled,” she said.
And Marlene Kelly, manager of the Auburn Mere Care Home in Watford, said shop workers were often better paid, with less responsibilty.
She said: “People still see this as a job anyone can walk into, that you don’t need to have anything special to do this work,
“But the truth is, most do this job because it’s their vocation.”