We need you to Care!
I’m sure everyone is aware
of the crisis in the NHS. I've recently had personal experience of it. One of
the issues I saw whilst in hospital was patients’ unfortunately having to bed
block. They were medically fit to go home, but where not well enough or able to
manage their own care needs and thus needed help at home. The lack of available
care staff was an identified need.
Similarly as a disabled person managing my own Direct Payments one of the issues I regularly have as do a lot of my friends and colleagues, is finding and employing good quality staff.
Having discussed this with friends, staff in The NHS, Local Authority and other service users I hear the same thing regularly. Regardless of how hard the NHS and Social Services work or how much money gets thrown at it, the issue will remain, until we all start giving care work the respect and value it deserves, whether paid or unpaid little will change.
Why is care work or caring for people so highly valued and identified by highly respected people, from prophets across religions to respected learned leaders in society from Ghandi to the Dali Lama. Yet society today thinks of it as menial job and are prepared to pay so little for it. As a society we seem to value and recognise salary and high pay with status, yet ask any disabled or elderly person they will tell you that the people who care for them whether paid or unpaid are of more value and mean more to them than any rich or successful person in society.
Think about it, carers are ultimately working to make other lives liveable, what can be of more value than that. I employ 4 carers and over the years some of them have left and others have taken their place, yet every one of them new or old are considered as part of the family due to the nature and value they hold for me and I for them.
So how do we go about imbuing care work with the respect and value it deserves? Firstly the Government and Local Authorities need to promote it as an important carer choice with prospects, rather than let it be seen as an under skilled low page job. For a start how about showing it as a potential career path to other employment opportunities. In my work as a service user I am involved with recruiting students at our local university on to the social work and nursing degree courses. I've often noticed those who have a background in caring often show better aptitude for learning and seem to become better qualified practioners. So why not make it a minimum entry level requirement. This isn’t the only opportunity that care work can bring. I know of at least one example of a local woman, unqualified and relatively unskilled who started off as a cleaner in a care home part time, and over 10 years, now earns a five figure salary in the care industry as an executive director.
The other problem is obviously pay. Why is it care companies can get almost twice as much money per hour yet pay their workers minimum wage? Why is it those of us who run direct payments don’t get the same amount of money as the care companies? If more people managed their own care through a Direct Payment, we could bring down the cost of care and pay a reasonable wage, which again will bring value to a much needed service. For those who can’t manage direct payments the Care Act, now allows a family member to be paid for the management of the care package. As this is at cost rather than for a profit margin again it will save money. The Act has been in for a year now, yet I have yet to see an authority implement the part of the Act which pays family members to assist in managing the care.
These are relatively simple things that can be done without any real cost to authorities which can in the long term help improve service and keep costs to a minimum. For those of us who use carers or have family members who do. We need to ensure that they are supported and shown the respect and due regard they deserve. Write to your authorities, take charge of your own care or a family member’s care. It can be done with a little effort and the benefits will be there for us all in the long term.
Similarly as a disabled person managing my own Direct Payments one of the issues I regularly have as do a lot of my friends and colleagues, is finding and employing good quality staff.
Having discussed this with friends, staff in The NHS, Local Authority and other service users I hear the same thing regularly. Regardless of how hard the NHS and Social Services work or how much money gets thrown at it, the issue will remain, until we all start giving care work the respect and value it deserves, whether paid or unpaid little will change.
Why is care work or caring for people so highly valued and identified by highly respected people, from prophets across religions to respected learned leaders in society from Ghandi to the Dali Lama. Yet society today thinks of it as menial job and are prepared to pay so little for it. As a society we seem to value and recognise salary and high pay with status, yet ask any disabled or elderly person they will tell you that the people who care for them whether paid or unpaid are of more value and mean more to them than any rich or successful person in society.
Think about it, carers are ultimately working to make other lives liveable, what can be of more value than that. I employ 4 carers and over the years some of them have left and others have taken their place, yet every one of them new or old are considered as part of the family due to the nature and value they hold for me and I for them.
So how do we go about imbuing care work with the respect and value it deserves? Firstly the Government and Local Authorities need to promote it as an important carer choice with prospects, rather than let it be seen as an under skilled low page job. For a start how about showing it as a potential career path to other employment opportunities. In my work as a service user I am involved with recruiting students at our local university on to the social work and nursing degree courses. I've often noticed those who have a background in caring often show better aptitude for learning and seem to become better qualified practioners. So why not make it a minimum entry level requirement. This isn’t the only opportunity that care work can bring. I know of at least one example of a local woman, unqualified and relatively unskilled who started off as a cleaner in a care home part time, and over 10 years, now earns a five figure salary in the care industry as an executive director.
The other problem is obviously pay. Why is it care companies can get almost twice as much money per hour yet pay their workers minimum wage? Why is it those of us who run direct payments don’t get the same amount of money as the care companies? If more people managed their own care through a Direct Payment, we could bring down the cost of care and pay a reasonable wage, which again will bring value to a much needed service. For those who can’t manage direct payments the Care Act, now allows a family member to be paid for the management of the care package. As this is at cost rather than for a profit margin again it will save money. The Act has been in for a year now, yet I have yet to see an authority implement the part of the Act which pays family members to assist in managing the care.
These are relatively simple things that can be done without any real cost to authorities which can in the long term help improve service and keep costs to a minimum. For those of us who use carers or have family members who do. We need to ensure that they are supported and shown the respect and due regard they deserve. Write to your authorities, take charge of your own care or a family member’s care. It can be done with a little effort and the benefits will be there for us all in the long term.
Self-Care is the new buzz
word coming from central and local government, in essence to me this means
we can’t, or won’t do it for you anymore, well for free anyway! I think personally
this is wrong we don’t need self-care, what society needs is a shift in
perspective to "We Care". We all have to work together to care
for each other in whatever way we can. For me that starts with empowering those
who already care by valuing and respecting them. So for those of you who
work in the care industry or are carers for family thank you.
So true-making the most of every moment ��
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