Ed Balls Crisis in Care.

I am a carer both unpaid looking after my Mother at home and as a professional, working in a Care Home for the Elderly. The programme was very close to home for me. The problem of carers leaving the profession is not confined to England - it is countrywide. Wages paid are not brilliant - Even with required qualifications. Give carers their due - their job is one of the most rewarding - it is also one of the most menial. I will leave the nitty gritty to your imaginations. I have done the job for 12 years and am now a Senior Carer. Ed Balls has opened a door that few of us have entered - except as a carer - paid and unpaid.

I'm not on any social media and don't want to be. No mention on it shouldn't mean no impact.
Not seen the programme yet. My Mum was in a home for 4 years but it was awful. I remember one visit - my Mum was at the end of a very long corridor - as I went in the entrance I could hear my Mum shouting "Help me, help me please" there were no staff in sight all the way to Mums room and I then had to go searching for someone. It's heartbreaking.
Until we can get proper funding and investment in the care sector there will always be a lot of companies that are just in it for the money. I know there are dedicated staff in some of them and they should be better rewarded for a difficult job.
I just dread ending up in one - I was there to fight for Mums corner , there's no one to do that for me.

Soroptimum

Excellent if not depressing programme. Such a broken system and no real solution in sight. Ed Balls was great, his communication skills were in evidence as he genuinely cared for the elderly residents.
I agree with dragonfly46, but don’t want to get political

"I agree with dragonfly46, but don’t want to get political"

... but, it is a political issue. The social care crisis didn't just happen organically.

Austerity with its cuts to public spending and concomitant privatisation of public services is the benchmark of Conservative ideology. Whether you agree with it or not, it is a fact.

It doesn't matter which side of the fence you sit on, you cannot detach social care from the political arena. It's a question of how you think it should be funded, and your 'politics' will dictate the line you take.

And there's nothing wrong with being 'political'. Politics governs most aspects of our lives - we need to be involved with the process rather than disengage from it. That's why we have universal suffrage.

It's not a skilled job, so no, the pay was probably the lowest I've earned for a long time.
I still had to have all the mandatory training.
Activity wise, anybody could do it.

But I bet you didn't get paid what you are obviously worth.

And we had a church service every week, the mobile library, and children from a nearby nursery in to join in with crafts.

The point being, that none of it cost much, and it wasn't an overly posh place, and most were council funded residents.
It just takes a bit of imagination to give people as good a quality of life as you can.

Yes, we watched the programme and it was quite distressing. As several people have said, it made you dread getting to the stage where you would need to go into a care home.

I was incredibly shy about that kind of thing, but that's a lovely part of care work.
All my usual suspects would come and hold my hand so I could help them, and they helped me, too.
You forget about all that when you're in the moment. Almost!

We used to do Indian belly dancing every fortnight
I doubt anyone would want to see mine with a jewel in my navel
???

And I was the dignity ambassador, which meant I checked up on the staff to ensure all was in order. (All for less per hour than the staff earned!)

I used to do residents meetings so they could air their views, and make sure they were listened to, as well.
2 trips out a week, and walks and bits and bobs in between.
We used to do Indian belly dancing every fortnight, and I made some excellent posters and little invite letters to put on their tables at breakfast time.
One of me, 75 of them, though.

Such a very good programme highlighting what we all suspected ....care workers do a wonderful job and IF you can afford it, a good care home would be ideal ....but not many can afford it, the same applies to 'retirement villages and retirement apartments' ....very very very expensive (some new build flats near me are selling FROM £400,000 .....ha ha ...the average house price round here would be less than £250,000 and when you buy them, they immediately depreciate in value and have extremely high service/maintenance/ground rent / charges and will not sell ! much better would be for the government to put housing for the elderly as a priority ....thus releasing those homes from 'old people rattling round in big houses'....if there were more affordable options for the elderly it would be fantastic ....but all MPs of whatever persuasion have always turned a blind eye to the increasing problem .....I suspect that any day soon an offer of a £12,000 voucher to Dignitas will be offered to anyone over 60 ........personally I am with others on here and I belong to EXIT international ......but sometimes the North Sea looks inviting ...........No Country for Old Men (or women come to that !.....disgraceful in the 21st century .....could use all the empty shops and offices where I live as workhouses .....they haven't suggested that yet, but its only a matter of time. As Leonard Cohen said 'Excuse me for living'

My Sis-IL would love you, MissAdventure, especially if you danced.

You are worth your weight in gold!

I absolutely loved that job, but it was too much.
Manicures, foot massages, knitting squares to make blankets for cats.
I got a petting zoo to come, once.
I bet they were pleased to see the back of me!!!

MissAdventure - such a valuable job. My OH was able to join in some of these things and it really enhanced his life, and all the other residents'.

Yes, it can, if someone has the funds. I doubt that the majority do have that much money, though. - I got the funds by selling my home!!!

Not everyone has a home they can sell and even if they do, it may not be worth enough to pay for more than a few months.
And what happens to the spouse if the family home is sold?

I don't want to argue with you, Luckygirl as I know how hard and distressing it was for you, but most people just don't have enough wealth to find, for example, £75,000 per annum for a good, not luxurious, care home for their family member, however much they love them and want the best for them.

This is why the whole system needs a huge overhaul.

I also picked up the metro newspaper to take in (loads of them) and we would discuss the news, then later on have a go at the crossword.
Then we did quizzes, or bingo (they loved it; I hated it!)
and I did a book club corner in one of the lounges.
A lot of it was free stuff, but I loved doing it - it really enriched their lives.

That's lovely.
I used to do gardening, cooking, crafts, and dancing when I was the activity coordinator in my last job (I had no idea what I was doing either!)
We did have fun though.

Yes, it can, if someone has the funds. I doubt that the majority do have that much money, though. - I got the funds by selling my home!!!

I agree that some homes that look very scruffy can be good - one of the best homes that I used to use for my clients was very rough and ready, but the atmosphere was good and warm and loving. Needless to say the LA found some excuse to close them down - they did not tick the boxes in spite of the fact that everyone there was happy - very happy. The lady who ran it was very easy-going and went out of her way to make sure people were happy - one resident loved gardening and she just let him loose on the garden - he hadn't got a clue what he was doing and he would move plants around time and again - but he was happy so she left him to it!

Difficult watching but an excellent programme and the case was very well put forward by Ed Balls. Really respect him for walking the walk and seeing just how it all makes you feel. Well done Ed.

Calistemon

Yes, there is a similar to that village near us, theworriedwell. It's not cheap!

However, I was talking about people who need a higher level of care such as those shown in Ed Balls's report.

This place does take people who need higher level of care, they provide for a whole spectrum. I can see the benefits but I wouldn't want to buy a bungalow there myself, I like living where there are a mix of people.

Grammar, sorry, one eye on The Repair Shop

Yes, there is a similar to that village near us, theworriedwell. It's not cheap!

However, I was talking about people who need a higher level of care such as those shown in Ed Balls's report.

Calistemon

No-one deserves to go to the kind of place Bujou had to endure but cafés, bars, a hairdressing salon are not absolutely necessary. I know two lovely hairdressers who go into care homes to do residents' hair. A gym area, a cinema area?
French doors - my relative would be escaping, sorry.

It sounds like a luxury hotel but more like a care home than a nursing home for those who require a high level of care.

I was impressed by the staff shown in Ed's documentary but didn't think the building itself was really suitable.

We have a place nearby, it has bungalows for elderly people who are independent but want some help on hand and people buy these, sheltered flats which have more support and are rented and a care home. There is a cafe, hairdressers and a gym but no cinema. The set up is meant to provide a pathway to care, you can move in when you don't need much support but if you need more you move into the flats or eventually the care home which has different areas depending on the care level required. The nice thing is that you are somewhere familiar with staff you know. It seems like a good idea to me.

I imagine it is expensive but I don't know.

MissAdventure

Some people like it, though.

Exactly, you have to do different things as not everyone is the same.