In a report published today Baroness Kingsmill has criticised the state of the care workforce saying that she has never seen so many underpaid, under-qualified and undertrained staff in any sector of the economy.
Media reports suggest Baroness Kingsmill’s report into working conditions in the care sector will say exploitation of care workers is leaving older people at risk.
Janet Morrison, Chief Executive at Independent Age said:
“Baroness Kingsmill’s report is expected to highlight once again how severe and damaging the crisis in care funding has become, not least for older people in residential and nursing care.
“Whilst we welcome recent attempts to professionalise the social care workforce, these have tended to focus on social workers and not care workers or care assistants.
“Ultimately we have to ask ourselves whether as a society we are comfortable with seeing some of the most important professionals we and our family members will ever need to rely on getting paid a £6.31 an hour, if that.
“We believe that low pay and zero hours contracts in adult social care are symptomatic of a care system that is in crisis. With low wages, high staff turnover and lack of training we can barely be shocked by the toxic conditions Baroness Kingsmill will highlight in her review today”.
Stephen Burke, Director of GoodCareGuide.co.uk, the TripAdvisor style website for the care industry, is available to give expert comment on the findings.
He says: “The research by Baroness Kingsmill is illustrative of the dire need for more funding into the care industry to ensure staff are properly trained, managed and paid. Reviews posted on Good Care Guide reflect the need for improved quality of care – with a recent analysis of 4,000 reviews posted on the site showing huge concerns about the levels of care specifically for older people. The quality of staff is key to the quality of care – and if we value care then we really should value our staff. This report will hopefully awaken the government into making strides to improve the training, working hours and pay of industry staff, that will in turn increase employee retention and overall standard of care.”
Access to good advice and information is critical to making difficult decisions about care.
Good Care Guide allows people in Britain to find, rate and review care providers in their area. It is the place to read nursery reviews, find the best care homes and rate childcare providers.
At the heart of Good Care Guide lies the idea that ‘Sharing is Caring’, a passion that people should be able to make informed decisions about their care needs and the belief that sharing experiences will help improve the quality of care in Britain. www.goodcareguide.co.uk
