Who really cares about the carers?
I HOPED the reforms Boris Johnson has announced would go a long way towards solving the problem of care staff shortages and funding. however, i’d be surprised if he realises domiciliary care — supporting someone in their own home — even exists. My daughter has been a carer for eight years. She has worked in residential homes and now in the community. She loves her job, but is looking to leave due to the dire state of the sector. her day begins at 7am and she is lucky to finish at 10pm. For this she is paid £9.30 an hour, which is 39p over the minimum wage. however, her travel time between appointments is not paid and there is also the catch that if there’s a gap of more than ten minutes between calls, the company she works for says the carer could go home, so no fuel allowance is paid for the next trip. her car costs £65 to fill up, which lasts a working week. She’s lucky if she is refunded a quarter of this. if you see a carer sitting in their car at the side of the road and you wonder what they are doing, they are probably waiting until they can go to their next call. if they carried straight on from one call to the next, the people they look after would be woken up at 6am, given lunch at 10am, tea at 2pm and be put to bed by 4pm. That is not the way to treat elderly and vulnerable people.
The system is a shambles. it needs to be properly funded and carers should be paid more. Training also needs to be ramped up. it’s nonsense that it’s viewed as a job anyone can do. Ultimately, i believe social care needs to be taken from private companies and funded by the state as part of the NHS. it can’t be right that it’s seen as acceptable for a profit to be made from those needing care. i can only stand by and watch my daughter become more stressed and worn out. The system will collapse and no amount of people having their care costs capped at £86,000 will fix it until the sector undergoes wholesale reform.
MOIRA BELL, Stamford, Lincs.