A care workforce fit for Britain | New Economics Foundation

Spreading high-quality, well-paid care jobs nationwide

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It will come as no surprise to those of you who follow me, but I virtually agree with everything in this report and where I don’t agree fully it is down to timings, as I feel the needs are now, short-term and not longer-term.

One example is social care workers pay and yes, it should always have been much higher than it is now and linking it to the Real Living Wage would have been so correct some years ago, but now the difference in rates between the Real Living Wage and the National Living Wage is not that much, except for when the increases come in force for with the National Living Wage the increaces are generally from April when the increases in the Real Living Wage are the previous November.

The other is  increasing social care workers salaries to 75% of nurses’ wages which is down as long-term, when this should be, at least medium-term and really short-term because it is now that more staff are required and really the Real Living Wage will not create this.

What is not mentioned in the report is tax, and really income tax for how can it be justified to tax a Living Wage, be in National or Real, for if it is a Living Wage, which it most likely is not, how can any reduction in the amount be justified. The then short fall in Government income could be raised by ensuring all loopholes in the tax system are closed, not only Non-Dom status, but in the ways multi-nationals are allowed to reduce the amounts they are taxed on and other means to reduce. A legitimate business expense allowed, but needs to be seriously looked at. More use of Windfall taxes and most likely a slightly highrer rate for those earning above £500,000 per year.

It is said that we need to pay so-called Captains of Indusrty and Multi-National Chief Executives more to get the best there is, but that could be said of any workers, for every worker no matter how much they are paid are very important and no one in any team is as much required as anyother.

Perhaps have a ruling that the top earner in any company could only receive an income, perhaps including bonuses, of a certain percentage above that of the lowest earner.

 

Source: A care workforce fit for Britain | New Economics Foundation

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NHS workers demanding better conditions are trying to help us all

I so agree, but some are in a much worse position than others. No one wishes to see their remunerations reduce in actual value due to the rising Costs of Inflation, which, currently is so much worse than previously.

But there are some areas of working where remunerations have not been good for many years, if ever.

For there is agrigulture and hospitality, the later, which is far from being helped with some of the strikes in force. While these are very important professions, they are in most instances not life threating for the UK at large.

But Social Care and especially care workers are and have always been extremely poorly paid, many just earning around the National Living Wage, which effectively is not a living wage at all, especially in these times of extremely high inflation. These care workers undertake a very important role, way above the remunerations they receive. Many authorities are stating that they should be paid the Real Living Wage. But £10.90 per hour is still not enough, for it should be much more, as £14/15 per hour would be much better as a starting point.

It is long over due that the real importance of Care Workers needs to be recognised, by this Government and all future Governments, as Care Workers and the whole of Social Care has been greatly let down by this Government and all previous Governments.

Having an efferctive and efficient Social Care workforce would be a tremendous help to the NHS, who rely on Social Care a very great deal. For it is the deficits in Social Care which is very greatly delaying many discharges from hospitals, which in turn is causing many delays in A&E for there are no vacant beds to transfer patients to, this then causes Ambulances to queue at A&Es waiting to transfer their patients into A&E and in doing so causes Ambulances to not be able to pick up many waiting to be transferred to Hospitals, thereby causing a great breakdown in the NHS. This is no reflection on any workers in Social Care, Hospitals and Ambulances and should be ‘fair and square‘ laid with this Government.

Safeguarding is also very important and all these strikes an d Govermnent many failures are causing many safeguarding concerns.

So, yes, Nurses and not only Nurses, who are only one part of the NHS, but all workers in the NHS to get a decent remunation increase, but in doing so don’t forget Care Workers who are just as important and in some instances, could be more important.

If Social Care is not sorted soon we can all say Goodbye to the NHS.

So, all of you contact your MP and express your disgust at this Governments dealings with Nurses, the whole of the NHS and certainly not forgeting the Care Workers in Social Care.

 

Source: NHS workers demanding better conditions are trying to help us all

Adult social care vacancy rate hits 10% – Community Care

There appears to be some misconception both in the article and in some of the comments.

In the article. ‘the 1.25 percentage point rise in national insurance contributions and dividend taxes introduced this month’ is being split between the NHS and Social Care over 3 years, with, initially the bulk of the money going to the NHS. Even if £500 million is being promised for Social Care is is way below the amounts that are required which is more like, £12 billion, which will only bring funding back to 2010 levels, which then was wholly insufficient.

Then is the social care funding for council run Adult Social Care or for care workers in care homes, home care, respite care, supported living, hospices, etc or both.

The rate of pay for care workers is also wholly insufficient now a minimum, the National Living Wage of £9.50 per hour and not the £10.10 being offered to non-UK workers, while it should be a minimum of the Real Living Wage of £9.90. But, workers can get £14/15 per hour at Supermarkets for much less responsibilities. Care staff have the life of the persons needing care in their hands, not just providing personal care of washing, dressing and toileting, but dispensing medication, meal preparation, emotional support, managing finances, ensuring safeguarding and much more.

It is not just that care is in the private sector, for some councils also have care workers, maybe not employed directly, but through agencies with a long-arm connection, where care rates may be slightly higher but not by much. If done correctly it is a very demanding profession, not the misconception of many that it is unskilled for it does take great skills to provide care consistently of good quality. The workers, if providing good quality care should be respecting their choices and dignity of those to whom they provide care to and not just provide care how they wish for care should be person-centred.

But there are unsocial hours too much travel time and not fully funded, if at all, training should be first class and relevant and much more.

Social care has always been the very poor relation of the NHS, when it should be held in equal esteem by both Government and the UK population and has never been sufficiently funded and even more so over the last 12 years or so.

If more is not done for social care and done urgently, then the quality and quantity of care will be severely diminished to where it is not really available. This will create even more pressures on a currently over-burdened NHS.

You may not, currently require Social Care, but when you do or a family member does then you may find it is not there and it is not just social care for the elderly but for any age starting at times from birth and |COVID| is increasing demand on Social Care as well as the NHS.

Don’t be fooled by the very ignorant and discriminative Government. who are just following many other Governments before them of any Party.

 

Source: Adult social care vacancy rate hits 10% – Community Care

Family of autistic man plan legal challenge over care conditions | Social care | The Guardian

Campaigners are calling for greater efforts to provide care in the community for people with severe learning disabilities. Photograph: AA Pix/Alamy

I have for years been saying that funding for social care is extremely important, but until recently I feel no one has been listening. That is certainly true about this Government for even now they are not listening and when it comes down to the facts, it is because, in reality, they do not even care.

I therefore support this legal challenge in every aspect.

To remedy the funding situation this Government needs to immediately refund to all Local Authorities (LAs) all the money withheld by Austerity Cuts and fully refund all the COVID costs LAs have had to encounter.

Only then will there be any chance that social care could be improved and in doing so relieve some of the burden the lack of social care has been causing to the NHS and the resulting effects on health care.

But there are also other measures this Government could do, one of which to immediately allow more non-UK citizens the enter the UK so they can be employed in social care for this would go a long way to ensure more persons would be available to work in social care. But also to ensure funding is sufficient to LAs so that care providers can be able to pay their care workers a more reasonable salary, to the extent of at least £14 per hour rather that the current National Living wage of £8.91or even the Real Living wage of £ 9.90 out of London (£11.05 within London).

But others need to be improves which includes

realistic sick pay rates

travel rates

unsocial hours rates

working conditions

and more

Social care is just as important as the NHS as both are inter-reliable on each other.

Source: Family of autistic man plan legal challenge over care conditions | Social care | The Guardian

Homecare costs outstrip funding from councils, says report – BBC News

Well, at long last home care is getting some coverage, for on the few occasions social care is mentioned it is usually only regarding care homes and the elderly. But Social Care is much more than that, for there is home care, respite, care, supported living, hospices and more and covers both children and adults.

Here we have home care, which as stated, is mostly paid for through local authorities (LAs) who obtain their funding from Government. However, LAs have suffered 10 years of austerity cuts and going on 2 years of increased costs from COVID and are still not being paid the equivalent to what they were being paid in 2010. So, there is major Government failings here.

Home carers are paid, mostly from £8.91 per hour,the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour, the Real Living Wage. So, the Care Providers have to be paid much more so they can pay their care workers, which is why there are much higher rates mentioned in the article. For Care providers, have other expenses than just paying care workers, being, office expenses, administration staff salaries, training, recruitment, payroll costs, etc.

In the article it is stating that the pay rate needs to increase to £11.20 per hour, but this is the very bare minimum, but to have any real affect the rate needs to be increased to at least £14.00 per hour and more likely £15 per hour, to offset the rates at Amazon and some supermarkets.

Most people, even the Government class care work as unskilled when it is far from it, as to provide good quality care the care workers need to know who they are caring for, provide emotional support as well as personal care, respect the choices of the person being cared for and their property, be able to understand how to use all the equipment the care for person has, adjust the care to how the person being cared for is on any particular occasion, provide meals as wished for by the person being cared for, understand their medication and much more. So, depending on the person being cared for it is very skilled to provide good quality care. Therefore not everyone is capable of being a skilled care worker.

Due to the insufficient pay there are a vast number of vacancies in social care and to get anywhere near the numbers required the UK Immigration Policy has to be altered to enable more workers from out of the  UK to gain entry to work in the UK. and this needs to be done urgently.

So, much needs to be done in respect of social care in the UK and this starts with the Government

Source: Homecare costs outstrip funding from councils, says report – BBC News

Care workers in England leaving for Amazon and other better-paid jobs | Care workers | The Guardian

I have been forecasting this for many years, but no one was listening, especially the Government and the Government is still not listening.

Amazon and other organisations can afford to offer these salaries of over £13 per hour but the care profession can’t unless a massive increase in funding but brought in, so carers are being paid either the national |Living Wage of £

Social Care has always been insufficiently funded, meaning care workers have not been allowed to earn a salary more in keeping with the care work they do.

But the Government insisted in forcing Local Authorities to accept austerity measures, when there was insufficient areas in which they could make saving without cutting back on essential services. The poor, disabled and the sick depend on all these essential services in order for them to lead reasonable lives. and social care is a necessity for them.

By not having sufficient care staff, persons in need of care are not always receiving good quality care, if at all.

So care workers are having to survive on the National Living Wage of £8.91 or in some instances the Read Living Wage of £9.50 or varying rates in-between.  For people to come into the Care profession the starting rate should be £14.00 per hour and the differentials be maintained in the years to come.

Then the other areas should be looked at

sick pay arrangements

Holiday pay

travel expenses

unsocial hours compensation

and others

Also, please could people resist in thinking Social Care is only for the elderly and care homes, for it is not although the elderly may be, currently the majority. For social care is there for anyone, or should be, who needs it, be they children or adults and it will cover Home Care, Respite, Supported Living, Hospices, etc.

The Government should be funding Local Authorities to enable them to fund care workers salaries to £14 per hour as well as bring the Government Grants back to at least pre 2010 levels for other council spending. This would then ensure that Local Governments could provide services more fitting to the 21st Century rather than the 18th/19th century.

This all needs to be addressed immediately for by the promise of the end of the year could well be too late or is that what the Government is really wishing for, as by that time many unnecessary deaths could have occurred.

During all this Government dithering, it is causing more demands on NHS resources at a time when the NHS is still dealing with COVID and the lengthening waiting lists due to the many deferred instances for people requiring non-COVID procedures as well as all the increasing demands due to long COVID ailments and conditions.

 

 

Source: Care workers in England leaving for Amazon and other better-paid jobs | Care workers | The Guardian

After scandals like Winterbourne View, why is basic decency still remarkable? | Sara Ryan | The Guardian

It is a continual shame on our Society that these abuses for persons with learning (Intellectual) disabilities and/or Autism are still occurring, not just occasion ally, but with regularity.

What ‘have we learned’, or should it be ‘why have we not learned’ for the immortal phrase ‘Lessons will be Learned’, which is always stated but never accomplished or is it even, never started.

For to learn there has to be a wish to do so, not just for a few but all.

It should be that everyone receives good quality care, but they do not. Some put forward the lack of a reasonable pay structure, but would increasing pay for carers really make any difference, for good quality and consistent care should be there no matter how much a person earns.

Not to say that carers should not be receiving a reasonable salary for the work that they do, for they should and the starting point should be the Real Living Wage and not the National Living Wage or even less if the carer is below age 23.

Unfortunately it is not just the Care and Treatment Centres that abuses occur for they could occur in any care setting, be it care homes, home care, supported living, respite, etc.

Is CQC, (Care Quality Commission) up to checking on the quality of care, well that is the question, for they should be, but I feel so much time is spent checking on records and insufficient on actual care delivery. I say this for anything can be written in a record, but actual care delivery is there for all to see.

It is so true that care is nowhere sufficiently funded and the total blame can’t be placed on Local Authorities for they are funded by the Government to a large extent and this and previous Governments have failed completely to fund Social Care anywhere near sufficiently.

Again it is true that the Government do not directly fund Social Care, but forward a grant to local authorities (LAs) for their complete areas of responsibilities and  LAS then split the grant over all their responsibilities, but it is the Grants that woefully insufficient. Not only tat but for 10 years LAs were subjected to Austerity Cuts in order to make savings, where savings could not realistically be made, so cuts were the order of the day.

Not only that, but then there have been the additional costs due to COVID, which the Government promised to cover, which they have to some extent, but not all.

So how do I view Government promises, well with great speculation and never believe that the promises will ever be fulfilled and to some extent never even kept at all.

So will care ever be good and consistent, well I always hope so, but then we all need to keep our eyes and ears open and report without any delays when we see and/or hear that they are not being.

Safeguarding is the responsibility for everyone of us and any concerns or alerts always need to be reported.

Source: After scandals like Winterbourne View, why is basic decency still remarkable? | Sara Ryan | The Guardian

Sleep-in care workers not entitled to minimum wage, supreme court rules | Care workers | The Guardian

So with this ruling Care Workers are back to ‘square one’, especially if the sleep-in rate reverts back to being £30 – £35 flat rate. Assuming a person only works ‘sleep-ins, would this be a liveable income, most likely not and could mean carers not wishing to do sleep-ins and this would be detrimental for the persons whose care package includes sleep-ins. This also has a bearing on the whole pay package for care workers, as, is the National Living Wage, currently £8.72 per hour, sufficient for the responsibilities that care workers should be undertaking. For, across the board for most care workers there pay is abysmal and could be a main reason why there is a national shortage of persons willing to undertake care work.

I, personally feel that the daily starting rate should be as declared by the Living Wage Foundation, being the Real Living Wage, currently £9.50 per hour and this could still be low for the responsibilities undertaken by Care Workers.

For being a care worker, is not as many feel ‘just wiping bums and putting food in front of the persons they are providing care for.

For these responsibilities include

Emotional support as and when needed

putting the person being cared for at the centre and providing care as directed by that person

ensuring the person in receipt of care is being kept safe, especially so if that person has some lack of capacity

these are some of the responsibilities, but there are many other.

providing care should never be on a ‘one fits all basis’ for, even though caring may be necessary they are still individuals, just as we all are, and not object to be treated the same. We would not want it so, neither should people who require some form of care.

Also, the working conditions for care workers is far from good and in many instances, especially in respect of home care, the timing of visits, both in view of the time of the visit, the length of the visit and others is also well insufficient.

Unfortunately when caring is mentioned, people usually assume this is in respect of care homes, but the areas of care include many others, some being, home care, supported living, respite, hospices, etc. and includes children as well as adults.

Also a person in need of care could have many health and mental conditions, for while dementia could be a major area in care homes, a person could have one condition, but more likely a mixture of conditions, including mental health, learning disabilities, autism and many others.

So, a one fits all approach is never the correct approach as care needs to be adjusted to the needs, feelings and choice of each person and these adjustments could well need to be altered on a daily basis, if not, even shorter time periods.

Just because a person is in receipt of care does not mean their rights are diminished and their right have to be respected. It should go without question that a persons dignity be upheld, but I fear, that in m any instances it is not.

Care is essential and therefore Social Care should not be looked at as being less  essential than health care, for they should be seen as, at least equal, if not social care being more essential than health care.

But Social Care has been well underfunded for many years, if not for ever, and this needs to change urgently. With the 10 years of austerity cuts and now COVID-19 the underfunding is now greatly increased.

Lessons should have been learnt during the current COVID pandemic but will they be, well we should all see that they are.

There have been many Government promises to look at Social Care by this and many previous Governments, in fact when Boris Johnson gave his 2019 Election victory speech he implied that he had a plan and would urgently implement such plan. Well it is now 2021, some one and a half years since his speech and Social Care and those in need of Social Care are still waiting. This has to be dealt with, like today, but should have been yesterday and certainly not tomorrow.

The promised White Paper needs to be released immediately without any further delays.

I support the petition, Solve the crisis in Social Care, https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care

I, therefore ask for you to support this petition, so without any further delay, please use the above link to the petition, and show your support by signing it and then sharing it widely.

Thank you

Source: Sleep-in care workers not entitled to minimum wage, supreme court rules | Care workers | The Guardian

Unpaid caregivers need more support|LinkedIn

From this linkedin post it would appear that this situation is not restricted to any given country, for here in the UK family carers, our way of expressing caregivers, are also not supported to any degree.

However, those family carers who are below retirement age could be eligible for Carers Allowance, provided they meet the eligibility conditions.

Many family carers are unable to maintain other forms of employment, so the £67.25 could be their only weekly earned income and it is a taxable benefit, but you may be eligible for other welfare benefits.

With Carers Allowance you would be receiving the equivalent to £1.92 based on the minimum qualifying hours of 35 hours.

When this is compared to our minimum wage, the National Living Wage, (NLW).

£1.92 per week is no real comparison to the NLW of £8.72 per week the minimum a person is expected to live on in the UK.

The UKs, Job Seekers Allowance, £74.35 for persons 25 and over, slightly more than Carers Allowance, but need to be seeking work, which a family carer may not be able to do.

Currently, family carers save £132 billion per year to the costs of Social Care within the UK

Well done family carers, you deserve it, but you should be recognised more. There is the Care Act 2014, but it should have provided much more and at the start of COVID-19 the UK Government created the Coronavirus Act 2020, which provided temporary easements for adults under the Care Act 2014, which are still available to English Local Authorities to apply to use, However, similar easements for children were withdrawn in September 2020, why are adults being treated differently to children, is this not disability discrimination?

 

Source: Unpaid caregivers need more support|LinkedIn

NHS Has Been ‘Nothing Special’ In Covid Pandemic, Right-Wing Think Tank Claims | HuffPost UK

A ‘right-wing Think Tank, the clue is there for it is right wing and a tank, where a tank is a vehicle for waste, a good place for this Right-wing Think Tank.

 

The other clue is that it promotes privatisation, why should an organisation profit from delivering care, so that it can reward its shareholders.

 

The NHS does, over and above what it can with insufficient funding, in fact, to try to keep within its funding. 

 

Any, so called, waste has been cut, but was it waste or was it resources to be used in the time of crisis. With COVID we have seen, in great detail, what the lack of PPE, bed shortages, staff vacancies and others create.

 

Lack of PPE or lack of the required type of PPE – leaving staff vulnerable to infection

 

Bed shortages – insufficient capacity, hence the creation of the Nightingale Hospitals

 

staff vacancies – requiring staff to work longer hours than they reasonably should, excessive workloads leading to stress and depression, insufficient staff to allow the Nightingale hospitals to be open

 

Every member of staff have been working to above their own capacity, while providing excellent care and I do not need a Think Tank or others to advise me, for I have seen this with my own eyes. As I had three hospital admissions in 2020 and one, so far in 2021. All these admissions have been for non-COVID reasons, as have the numerous outpatient visits I have had to have in connection with my hospital admissions.

 

So, Think Tank from my own observations and receiving of treatment, I know you are totally wrong. Have any of the Thing Tank even had treatment within the NHS, or, more than likely making these comments for other reasons, likely to further advance health privatisation.

 

For an example of privatisation, just say ‘Test and Trace’, need anymore be said.

 

The NHS and the staff are exceptional and thoroughly deserve the “Clap for Carers”, but they are not on their own.

 

For there are many carers not in the NHS, these being in Care Homes, Home Care, respite, Hospices, supported Living, etc who are also providing exceptional care, but were they recognised in the “Clap for Carers”, most likely not. Also many of these carers are on the National Living Wage or just above, much less than many in the NHS, although insufficient for what they do, and certainly those persons in the Think Tank, which is, most likely, over sufficient for what they appear to do, if any.

Carers should be on or above the Real Living Wage.

 

Source: NHS Has Been ‘Nothing Special’ In Covid Pandemic, Right-Wing Think Tank Claims | HuffPost UK