Lisa spent an extra 15 mins changing an old man who soiled himself.. she won’t be paid for it but ‘You can’t just leave them’

Lisa calls a rushed “bye” to an empty hallway as she swings the front door shut, then sprints down the path towards her car, frowning with concern.

Clearly flustered, the home carer has reluctantly left an elderly man, who has a lung condition, alone in his home, although her instincts scream he needs more help.

It was only this morning that he arrived back from a hospital stay.

Walking leaves him gasping for breath and he cannot manage the few steps he needs to take to get to the toilet in time to avoid the indignity of an accident.

Yet Lisa’s employers, a council commissioned private care company, told her that her task was only to “feed him” – as if he were someone’s pet – and stay no longer than 15 minutes.

This was an emergency appointment slotted into her already crammed afternoon. She wasn’t told anything about his condition, situation, or even his name.

Lisa helped the man stagger from

his seat as he rasped and wheezed, but he tottered so slowly to the bathroom he soiled himself.

By the time Lisa cleaned him up she had stayed 30 minutes – knowing, like so many home carers, she wouldn’t be paid for the extra 15 minutes.

She also knew she had no choice but to abandon him, as her other elderly clients would now get their lunches – and in most cases, medication – late.

As she flings her seatbelt on, she says:

“I had to change his underclothes, clean his legs. He was gasping for breath. I feel very stressed. You’re trying to give the care, but it’s an impossible situation.” She’s not alone. A Unison survey of home carers revealed 40% have been forced to leave a client in a distressed state because of inadequate time allowed for the visit.

And 94% say they spend longer with their clients than allocated. Lisa, whose name we have changed to protect her, has 12 visits stacked back to back in the seven-hour shift we spent with her.

She is a dedicated carer with many years of experience, but she, like many, is on a zero hours contract.

And she is fearful about the squeeze being placed on the level of care she can provide. Unison’s survey shows how isolated and neglected many elderly people are – with 52% of home carers saying they take their own food to give the people they visit and 40% use their own money to help them.

“I do it lots, buying people a loaf of bread, tea bags,” says Lisa. “You can’t leave people in that situation.”

State funding for social care has fallen 27% since 2010, leaving 400,000 fewer people receiving it.

People must pay for care in full if they have capital above £23,250.

Theoretically, those who still get the care have their needs met, many in the form of at-home care provided by private firms like Lisa’s.

Carers are underpaid and overworked. They are leaving the job in their droves due to the conditions.

The system is at breaking point, yet the publication of a green paper detailing reforms to social care funding has been delayed six times by the Government. The Mirror’s Fair Care for All campaign is battling to end the care crisis.

We meet Lisa in North West England in time for her first breakfast call. It is to a man with mobility issues who lives in social housing and has scant savings and no close

You’re trying to give the care but it’s an impossible situation HOME CARER ON THE PROBLEMS SHE FACES