Social care respect is too little too late
WELL, well, well, who’d have thought it? He’s back! In the style of Arnold Schwarzenegger, sort of, but half the size.
Jeremy Hunt, former secretary of state for health and social care, and once the medical profession’s most dastardly foe, has ramped up his conscience – or more likely, has just discovered it, and has decided that NOW is the time to fix social care.
Wow! You don’t say, Jeremy! About 15 years ago (probably even more like 20) was the time to start fixing social care. Now is well past the time to tackle it as those of us who’ve come into contact with and relied on the much put-upon beleaguered service over the years can testify.
The following thought from Mr Hunt – his big comeback statement – has made me realise just how little he has learned since he left the Department of Health: “We can tackle this crisis”, he says, “if the Treasury has the courage.”
Oh that old excuse. “I’d definitely do it if I could, believe me, but you’ll have to speak to the Treasury.”
I think he’ll find that the Treasury
is rather busy right now, helping people to stay afloat amid the financial ravages of this awful pandemic.
We often hear that our money’s being paid to the Treasury and yet now we’re having to wait and hope that the Treasury’s got the balls – and the cash – to help Jeremy’s Tory government mates fix social care.
Well, let’s bloody hope so because it’s been a long time coming, and they’ve not exactly hurried themselves in the 10 years they’ve been in government, have they?
So, assuming then that the Treasury is awash with cash – it isn’t – and has indeed got courage enough to take on the mammoth task of trying to fix social care – it more than likely hasn’t – it must first prioritise a massive rethink of the way social care is managed and carried out.
Social care is a noble, vital profession, which is not shown the respect it deserves. It relies on kind, selfless, dedicated workers, who are grossly underpaid for the value of the work they do.
The status of social care – and I’ve said this SO many times – is nowhere near what it should be for the value of the work carried out. Social care workers are lifelines, they’re confidants, they’re a smile on legs on a dismal day. A ray of sun on a grey afternoon. They care, they hug, they laugh, they bring joy, they bring food. And a nice cup of tea. They wipe tears and bottoms, and reassure worried/upset relatives, for the love of it, certainly not the money, because they’re paid nowhere near enough for the value of the jobs they do and the love they dispense.
We should have been fixing the beleaguered system over 15 years ago