Social Care has been the forgotten health facility, well certainly by this Government and many previous Governments, for far too many years. So, Social Care has been existing on budgets which are way insufficient for the required need for many years, meaning many persons in need of care have been, virtually left to fend for themselves.
Then for the last 10 years or so, this and previous Conservative Governments have been decimating the Welfare system so that many, who are extremely vulnerable, not only do not have social care, but also insufficient *welfare benefits.
The vast unseen in the UK.
The media have also not been helping, as they produce many programmes showing people abusing the Welfare System, thereby providing the UK population a misguided view of people who are vulnerable. Not saying there is not abuse of the Welfare System, for there is, but not to the extent that the media and also the Government appear to indicate.
So, you may be wondering why I am promoting this petition as we are in the Coronavirus, (COVID-19) crisis and certainly now that Social Care is appearing to have some signs of recognition.
It is because of this recognition and I do appreciate the Government is concentrating on COVID-19, and my thoughts are with Boris Johnson and his family and other families in similar positions and it is good to see he has, apparently, recovered and now back fulfilling his Prime Ministerial duties, but Social Care has been forgotten for many years and certainly with regards to funding.
I have been involved with Social Care, be it with regards to family or on a wider basis for over some 40 years and funding was always an issue and the last 10 years has made the situation much worse.
So, the recognition is an impetus on which to build upon and to ensure the recognition continues when COVID-19 has been overcome.
Also see the post on my blog, Carer Voice, where Matt Hancock has refused to pay Carers the Real Living Wage
I also thank the Government for bringing back their recruitment campaign ‘Every Day is Different‘, but it would be even better if they had improved the salary and other conditions as stated in the petition.
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care
So here is how I am currently promoting the petition.
I apologise in advance for the length of this promotion, but it is a subject on which there is a lot to say.
As I am very concerned about Social Care could I also introduce you to my latest Petition, ‘Solve the crisis in Social Care’.
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care
We all have reasons for reaching out and some of mine are mentioned below
- With the Government, Social Care is the forgotten service and Yes, the Government as plenty to deal with currently, but more should have been done for Social Care well before the COVID 19 situation.
- This section of care has been devoid of enough money for far too long and austerity measures only compounded this.
- The starting salary for all care workers should be, at least the Real Living Wage and not, as currently the National Living Wage or for some under 25 years The Minimum Wage.
- The rate of pay is abysmal when compared to the responsibilities they undertake.
It is not just the rate of pay, but many others including
- Conditions of Service
- Travel Expenses
- Sick Pay schemes
My own family and many other families rely on Social Care to help us look after our relatives who have major needs relating to care.
We all have, over the years, done what we can to help manage these needs of our relatives, but there comes a time when the needs exceed what we ourselves can realistically deliver, hence our, now, reliance on Social Care and without it our relatives needs will not be met.
Lack of funding for Social Care is a major problem and this leads to
- not only insufficient funding for all forms of Social Care
- a lack of people wishing to come into the profession due to the abysmal rate of pay
- partly causing a lack of quality of care being delivered in some areas and other problems
- causing stress and exhaustion for family members providing care to their relatives, due to the lack of Social Care If the crisis in Social Care is not met, this will then increase the crisis in health.
Please could you see if you could show your support by signing this petition and then sharing it wherever you can.
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care
For more information I refer you to my web page
https://carervoice.wordpress.com/petition-solve-the-crisis-in-social-care/
It goes without saying that I am greatly disappointed with the latest Budget, not even the miserly £1 or £1.5 billion promised by Boris, but unfortunately this is how it is for Social Care and those in need of Social Care.
It is what we have come to accept, but not without question and challenge and the Coronavirus Pandemic is making Social Care even more important.
However, the Government as shown their contempt for Social Care by suspending the *Care Act 2014 some weeks ago, rather than providing increased funding to Local Authorities so they can, not only maintain current Social Care levels, which are really well below than required, but increase the level of Social Care to what is really required.
Also the most recent amendments to the health and social care act need to be reversed, otherwise further funding will be swallowed up by private organisations and top heavy management. As at the moment, as it stands the *Health and Social Care Act 2012 removes government liability and responsibility, which has had a detrimental impact on social care and the NHS.
You will never know when you maybe in need of Social Care, so please support Social Care, before it is too late
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care
Thank you
Chris
#care #socialcare #crisis
*Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Carer Voice 
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