Family Carers and Social Care

Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE I am a former family carer, former as my daughter died on 4 October 2022 following my wife’s death on 26 September 2020, and both are very sadly missed. My daughter was 54 when she died of a heart attack and she enjoyed her life with myself and her mother and then when our health deteriorated her care 24/7 was undertaken by a team of paid carers who provided excellent care respecting her wishes and choices, dignity, were empathetic and ensured my daughter had a very good life while continuing to live in our family home. The introduction of paid carers was gradual starting with 2 carers in a double shift of 60 hours in total Monday to Friday, which then progressed to similar for Saturday and Sunday, when they took my daughter out for lunch each day. As the health of my wife and then my own became worse we progressed to 24/7 care within our home and had an excellent provider of very excellent carers. The carers in many ways became part of our family and even after the death of my daughter many are still in contact with me and visit when they can. I was fortunate, today, to be on the Paulette Edwards, Radio Sheffield programme this morning talking about being a Family Carer and the experiences, the problems and the rewards and how it affected all of our lives. Now family carers are unpaid, but in doing so, as stated in a Carers UK report in 2015, was saving the UK £132 billion in Social Care costs and this can only have increased, substancially over the years in 2021 assumed to be £193 billion per year. Family Carers are entitled to Carers Allowance currently £69.70 per week provided at least 35 hours care is provided during the week, the carer has to be over 16 years and not earn more than £132 per week (after deductions including tax, national insurance and certain expenses). On retirement depending on the amount of State pension being received the Carers Allowance could be reduced or not paid at all. For the allowance is there to mitigate for any lost earning due to caring and when on pension there are no lost earnings. Family carers are also entitled to their own assessment, a Carers Assessment, independent of a needs assessment for the person needing care, to arrange for one contact your Local Authority who may do them themselves or contracted to another organisation to do them, in Sheffield this is the Sheffield Carers Centre. But, Social Care has, largely been forgotten about or dismissed as not being important, which is so wrong for social care is extremely important and needs to be considered on a par with the NHS, as the NHS can’t exist without Social Care and Social Care can’t exist without the NHS and in that Family carers are also so important, so their significance should never be discounted. For it is Family Carers who have been sustaining social care for all the years there has been social care. Lack of Government both funding and recognition of social care has been happening by this current Government and all preceding governments and none have given the so much needed funding and recognition it deserves and requires. This has led to the crisis in social care to escalate and is now and has been for many years seriously affecting the sustainability not only of Social Care but our very much respected NHS. Both the NHS and Social Care need equal respect and both need to be fully funded, for the staffing crisis in both are extremely serious. In fact the staffing crisis in social care could be far exceeding that of the NHS. But when we are looking at the NHS it is much more than Doctors, nurses , ambulance staff, for it is everyone employed within the NHS, for everyone contributes to the team and none can exist without the others. When I mention teams I am looking at everyone for take social care, it is not just social workers and care workers, but it includes families and the family carers for we are all part of the teams and all need to be respected, as is the person being cared for who needs and should be always the centre focus, in other words ‘Person Centred Care’ is the foundation of all care, be it the NHS, Social Care and in the family. This is so much the same in social care for it is not just the shortage of care workers, who so much need to be paid more, at least £15 per hour, but also their employment Terms and Conditions, re holiday pay, travel expenses paid sick leave and much more. You may say what has the Government to do with this, but the Government provides a grant to each Local Authority, (LAs) so they can have funds to which Council Tax, Business Rates and more are also included so that the LAs can then fund the services they provide. But since 2010 this grant has been severely reduced, by the Tory Government Austerity Cuts and therefore LAs have insufficient funds to fund all the services they should be doing, which means for them to keep within the funding, services have to be reduced, for any LA is not allowed to go into deficit. If this funding is not sorted, urgently, then the care staff will continue to reduce. It is said that anyone could be a carer, but that is not really true, for caring is not, as it is said to be, an unskilled profession, for to care correctly it is a very skilled profession and so needs to be recognised as so. Also when looking at Social Care it is so much more than care for the elderly, for it includes both children and adults, not only in care homes, but home care, supported living, respite and hospices. and more. Many will say that the UK can’t afford to fund social care, but I say it can’t afford not to, for if it is not, then social care will continue to diminish so much more and then the crisis in the NHS will be so much more and really threaten the continued existence of the NHS. So whether you do use social care currently or not and remember none of us will really know when we will need social care it is so important that it is sufficiently funded and then continued to be sufficiently funded and with that the NHS also. Look at military spending and I am not saying we should not help Ukraine for we all need to for if Russia is allowed to defeat Ukraine where will Russia strike next, but when any munitions are used, no one says can it be afforded to be used, but this is what is occurring daily in social care and the NHS.

Dementia patients in England facing ‘national crisis’ in care safety | Social care | The Guardian

Regretably this is the state of social care in the UK and not just for dementia, but every aspect of social care, be it for children or adults, care homes, home care, supported living, etc.

Staffing is a major problem both the quantity and in many instances the quality for due to the lack of quantity, some providers are accepting anyone who applies, irrespective if they are totally suitable.

There are some very good providers who do employ good quality workers, but it is becoming so hard to find the quality in the UK and due to immigration policies not that easy to recruit from outside the UK.

Funding is a major proble, which this Government is totally bignoring, like all previous Government before them.

Why, well it is because social care is not held in the great esteem that is the NHS and even there funding is very restricted, thus, leading to severe staff shortages throughout the NHS and not just for nurses and junior doctors.

So, the crisis is so severe in the NHS and even more so in social care, but we have an uncaring Government, just as we have had since the start of social care. For social care has never been look at and given the recognition it really deserves and so much needs.

By many, it is viewed that anyone can work in social care and deliver all that is required, but that is so far from the truth that it can be. For working in social care is not just turning up and doing what you wish too. For to care with good quality a care worker needs to fully understand the responsibilities that are there,

1. understanding the rights and choices of the person being cared for
2. showing the cared for person respect and the dignity needed
3. respecting the cared for persons property and belongings, especially when the care is being provided in the cared for persons own home, but also in their room in a care home.
4. not only providing care but when needed, deal with areas of finance, safeguarding and many others
5. to follow the individulised Care Plan

The above are only some of the areas for there are many others.

Many persons being cared for will have some equipment to help with their care, hoists, stand aids, specialised baths, specific food requirements and how they are feed, maybe ‘peg feeding‘ or others and many more.

So, much training is required, which needs to be understood and followed correctly.

But the remunerations they receive fail completely to take these responsibilities into account and then there is expenses, such as for travel and others which are not completely taken into account

Then there are the working conditions and others, such as not fully entitled to all holiday pay and no sick pay other than the totally insufficient Statutory Sick Pay

Social care as been the forgotten care service for way too long and there remuneration is one area where great improvements can be made, for many care workers are only on the National Living Wage to be £10.42 from 1 April 2023 and currently £9.50 per hour, when £14/15 would be so much more realistic, but this Government does not wish to know, so Social Care will get so much worse, which will have a very severe impact on the NHS, which it is already doing, but the impact will get so much worseand so will severely impact on the NHS to recover from their own crisis. For the NHS can’t exist without Social Care as Social Care can’t without without the NHS.

So, Government, for once just listen and then act as is required, breaking the actions or more correctly the inactions that have gone before.

Human Rights need respecting, even by Governments

 

 

 

Source: Dementia patients in England facing ‘national crisis’ in care safety | Social care | The Guardian

Petrol queues: Doctors and emergency medics must be given priority access at petrol stations, says leading GP

Professor Dame Clare Gerada, former president of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘If it’s going to go on for any length of time, then we’ve got to make sure that essential services take priority’

 

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Yes, this sounds good, but Doctors, nurses and emergency medics are not the only ones, for all those employed in health are essential, domestics, support workers, administration workers, then there  are  the police and fire services, care workers, in Residential/nursing homes, home carers, and other care workers, then the are workers in food supply organisations, utility workers and many others.

For these days no one organisation is an island, for we are all interdependent.

Professor Dame Clare Gerada is not thinking it through.

The whole employment structure in the UK needs to be looked at for in many ways we are all interdependent. The UK can’t, well certainly in the short term be solely dependent on the UK workforce and in many areas we do need persons from outside the UK, so the UK immigration policy needs to be flexible enough to accommodative all aspects of #employment.

 

Source: Petrol queues: Doctors and emergency medics must be given priority access at petrol stations, says leading GP

UK like an ‘enemy state’ to EU nationals detained by Border Force | Brexit | The Guardian

Confused over regulations, Home Office border staff meet legitimate visitors and workers with suspicion

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This very extremely worrying for we do really need anyone who is willing to work in the UK, especially within the care profession, which is extremely short of people willing to provide care. The need for care within the UK has been increasing for many years, and now even more so with COVID, for long COVID is creating many more areas for people needing care to lead reasonable lives.

Foe many years the professions has been relying on non-UK labour and while in the EU had a contant supply of care workers coming in and supplemented by workers from other areas of the world. But since Brexit the availability of workers from the EU has been limited, in many ways due to EU workers not trusting the UK to keep it word. With these latest areas of unlawful restrictions being imposed by Border Force officals it would appear this mistrust is justified.

This needs to be sorted, URGENTLY, for the current state of Social Care in the UK can’t continue without these workers being allowed to enter the UK, be they from the UK or other world areas. My daughter recieves 24/7 care and a good 90% of the carers coming to her are non-UK care workers. Without them she will be unable to live, so these Border Force officials are not just stopping people entering the UK, but their illegal actions, are also causing unnecessary hurt and suffering for persons in need of care, but will in time cause their deaths. Will the relatives of the persons in need of care have a case to prosecute Border Force and even specific individuals, I so hope so for these illegal actions need to stop immediately and if not legal actions should commence.

There has to be accountability and seen accountability.

Source: UK like an ‘enemy state’ to EU nationals detained by Border Force | Brexit | The Guardian

UK public-sector workers on COVID-19 frontline to get pay rises – Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – Almost one million public-sector workers in Britain are to be given above-inflation pay rises, the government said on Tuesday, to reflect their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Source: UK public-sector workers on COVID-19 frontline to get pay rises – Reuters

 

The NHS taking over social care would be a disaster. Make services truly local instead | Social care | The Guardian

Covid-19 has exacerbated the social care crisis – but a national service isn’t the answer

Source: The NHS taking over social care would be a disaster. Make services truly local instead | Social care | The Guardian

Don’t just clap for carers- Urgent calls for new deal for health and care employees | Care Industry News

Researchers from King’s Business School have published a paper urgently calling for a new deal for health and care employees that acknowledges and reflects their worth to our individual and communal well-being that has been highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper says that the sector needs a new model of employment relations, characterised as fair care work, to tackle the challenges exposed by the crisis.

Source: Don’t just clap for carers- Urgent calls for new deal for health and care employees | Care Industry News

Tories say £60k payment to bereaved families of health workers will NOT apply to care workers or cleaners – and families of immigrants may be deported – SKWAWKBOX

The UK government has said that the £60,000 bereavement payment to the families of health workers killed by the coronavirus will not apply to care workers or hospital cleaners.

The Tories have also said that families of the deceased have no automatic right to remain in the UK. Families of people who died trying to keeping us safe and well could face deportation if their right to remain is withdrawn.

Johnson and his fellow Tories will no doubt still make sure they are filmed ‘clapping for carers’ tomorrow.

Source: Tories say £60k payment to bereaved families of health workers will NOT apply to care workers or cleaners – and families of immigrants may be deported – SKWAWKBOX

Coronavirus: Helping Those With Autism During Lockdown

Routine is important for all of us, but for persons with autism it is even more so as routine is part of their coping process.

So, the closure of restaurants will have a major impact on someone with autism.

For staff to be able to handle these situations just shows what skills these staff have and these skills will go un-noticed on many occasions. These are the same staff who are classed as unskilled, which they clearly are not. But their remunerations do not take these skills into account and many may be on the National Living Wage, the minimum people over 25 have to be paid. They should be on a starting salary of the Real Living Wage, as put forward by the Living Wage Foundation, https://www.livingwage.org.uk/what-real-living-wage

However, when this was raised with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock by SNP Shadow Health Secretary Dr Philippa Whitford MP when she urged Matt Hancock to roll-out the Real Living Wage to all care workers – like has been the case in Scotland for many years – and reverse the 20% cut to public health funding imposed by the Tories in 2015.

In his response, Matt Hancock said that health care workers already receive the living wage – lower than the Real Living Wage – and completely failed to address Dr Whitford’s point on reversing cuts.

This proves where the Government really is and it is not with Care Workers in the Care Profession. For Matt Hancock was stating that Care Workers were on the National Living wage and not the Real Living Wage, but was playing on the words ‘Living Wage’ just to confuse the issue, in reality a difference of some 58p per hour and that is assuming the care workers are 25 or over, if they are 21 and over their guaranteed rate is only £8.20 and if the are under 21 the rate will be even lower. Also only the Real Living Wage has a weighting for London, who are recommended to receive £10.75 as opposed to £9.30 for the rest of the UK.

So, do not trust what you hear from the Government, especially Government Ministers.

I do not trust this Government, but then I do not trust any Governments and have not done so, for at least the last 40 or so years.

It was because of this lack of trust that I created the petition, Solve the crisis in Social Care’, which is addressed to both Matt Hancock and the Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

So, please see the information I have prepared on https://www.dropbox.com/s/74ckd926thbrlo8/Solve%20the%20crisis%20in%20Social%20Care%205.docx?dl=0
or go straight to the petition on https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/solve-the-crisis-in-social-care

Social Care really is in crisis and was long before COVID 19 so, Social Care really needs YOU and so does this petition

Same Difference

Like so many people with autism, lockdown rules have only added to the challenges Matthew Russell faces.

A trip to McDonald’s or the local pub had not only become a treat, but a key part of a settled weekly routine.

However, the coronavirus outbreak has taken away those routines, causing distress and anxiety for many.

So staff at an autism centre in south Wales have come up with ideas to help maintain structure, including a replica drive-through burger restaurant.

Support workers at Glamorgan House in Neath were eager to help those with autism get through the restrictions.

With the help of a local McDonald’s restaurant that was closed during the lockdown, staff sourced packaging and cups for an authentic experience as well as making their own uniforms by hand.

“As soon as we began serving up meals there were smiling faces all around and orders were flying in,” said senior…

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Government launches national social care recruitment campaign ; Care Home Professional

A new national adult social care recruitment campaign has been launched by the government to attract more staff to the sector amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

Source: Government launches national social care recruitment campaign : Care Home Professional