The final straw that broke the camel's back

Well it won’t happen again for a good many years, hopefully.

Yes I think it is, and totally agree money was found just like that, no expense paid for a the funeral of a family who could well have paid for their own and maybe the money put into social care or other social needs. I have always been a royalist but this funeral has made me think differently

You are entitled to your opinion, but is this the right thread?

Millions of the taxpayers money were spent on this funeral. The Queen and Prince Charles have huge amounts of their investments in tax havens and have used their influence to avoid tax. The economy is on its knees, yet we can't have the funeral on Sunday, and the House of Commons is not sitting for a week. We have a corrupt system where the rich avoid taxes and the poor pay. The Queen didn't do anything to stop this. In fact, she used her influence to make sure she didn't pay the same tax her father paid. So perhaps we need to look at the picture we are painted by the Queen's huge PR machine (remember that was used to destroy Diana's reputation while Charles got a free ride).

All the care homes and care agencies I dealt with s a social worker were initially owned and run by the LA. AS time went by more and more private homes and agencies appeared as political dogma dictated.

As someone who worked in the sector for many years, I can state categorically that this resulted in a reduction in standards because:
- the ethos changed
- the profit motive took over
- profit margins led to decreases in staff training and support
- monitoring of private agencies and homes has never been effective
- there was no over-arching organisation in control who monitored standards and protected staff and patients/clients in a specific area
- clients finished up in unsuitable homes because they and their relatives had to work their way through the minefield of assessing a suitable home in the absence of any specialist knowledge. As SWs we were not allowed to recommend on private service over another; and we had little knowledge of the individual services.

People may not want to hear this for various reasons, particularly being wedded to a particular dogma, but I am simply telling it how it is from personal experience.

At no point have I suggested that doing the job properly is a cheap option - it is not. Good care costs money. Society has to decide whether it values this sufficiently to make it a priority.

Don’t blame Labour, the Tories have been in for large number years and under their so called care the country has gone down hill. Yours is the usually comment blame it on Labour. As for cost, well, none of us are experts but a windfall tax to start with, cancel HS2 and horror of horror, rise taxes for the top band, also let’s having a fairer system in business tax, Amazon what tax do they pay and some of the other large companies? There is a way if there is a will

So we didn’t rely on private care homes and agencies at all during Labour governments. They have suddenly sprung up with a Conservative administration? Really?

Still waiting to hear what providing all care via the State would cost…

Quite right Luckygirl

Germanshepherdsmum

We rely heavily on the private sector Barmey, that’s the fact of the matter. NI and taxes would have to be raised very significantly if private sector provision is to be removed. Care homes and agencies are businesses. Businesses have to make profits if they are to continue to exist.

We only rely heavily on the private sector - with all the problems that brings - because a government came into power that had no idea what "public service" means and who pursued policies based on the dogmas of profit and competition.

I have explained above why this does not work in the care sector and why services are in the mess they are in.

Money seems to be found on the money tree for HS2 and other vanity projects, let’s have some of the money spent and things that will improve the lives of many rather than the few

What might ‘a bit more’ be I wonder? And how much would one have to earn to be clobbered with this increased tax? Have you done the maths? Have you considered how much money would be needed to provide a decent level of care (and accommodation for those in care homes)? And of course none of the carers would be badly paid.

Maybe a good start would be looking at the accounts of a private care home staffed by carers on minimum wage - then inflate those wages to an acceptable level. That will help your costing.

that's the point. we know they are businesses.
we think it should be removed from profit-making, and a national care service set up, or returned to proper LA provision, with greater taxation to cover. why not. the same objections were raised when NHS was set up.
there could still be private facilities for the rich, as now with healthcare, and schooling.
but the basic universal coverage should be state funded.
why shouldn't everyone, esp higher earners, pay a bit more. they would hardly notice a few pounds, but gathered from the whole group, would be an efficient and regular income to fund the system.

We rely heavily on the private sector Barmey, that’s the fact of the matter. NI and taxes would have to be raised very significantly if private sector provision is to be removed. Care homes and agencies are businesses. Businesses have to make profits if they are to continue to exist.

GSM Luckygirl has made a good post about care homes and agencies being under the LA, no reason why profits should be made from caring for the sick.

You would have to dispense with all private care homes and private care agencies to get rid of the ‘obscenity’ McCavity. Then where would we be?

I have never regretted it once. Not well paid but very rewarding. It's so sad to see it all being sold of to private companies who are only there to make huge profits

I worked as a nurse from 1957 until 2005, when I retired aged64

Making profit from sick and vulnerable people is obscene.

This all makes me so cross. I worked in SS when the bulk of home care and residential care were in the hands of the LA. Carers had proper contracts and shared the same benefits and safeguards as all the rest of the LA staff. They had proper training and ongoing support and did a wonderful job - and hopefully felt valued.

Then the spectre of political dogma reared its ugly head. Everything should be based on privatisation and competition; the concept of providing a service went down the pan. And we have this current mess.

As a SW it was wonderful to feel confidence in a service and to know that if a client had a problem I could go straight to the person in charge of all the home care and get something done about it. In my latter years as a SW, I had to deal with fragmented services with no-one in charge of maintaining standards overall, and no-one taking responsibility for dealing with problems that might arise.

It is a tragedy; and a travesty of the concept of providing a service. It makes me very sad.

I had the job of arranging care for my OH at the end of his life and I could have wept: for him and the poor service he received, and for the knowledge that it had been better but had been blown out of the water for no good reason.

To the OP I say: I am sorry that you find yourself in this situation. People like you with experience and dedication are too good to lose.

So many public services are run on workers’ good will, working unpaid overtime, being called in on days off or holidays to cover sickness etc. Management take advantage of this, gradually increasing the pressure so as to keep the service going whilst claiming savings by not recruiting and inflicting worse terms and conditions. Oh and workers’ 3% rise is all they can afford but 3% of very little is still very little whilst 3% of many chief execs salaries is probably more than a worker’s salary.

Good for you, I wonder if he had been in the same situation what would have done

My straw came many years ago. I was in my first job, working as a shorthand typist. My younger brother was seriously injured in a fire and it was touch and go whether he would live. I took annual leave two Mondays in a row to spend time with him. (He lived in London me in the Midlands. My boss called me into the office and gave me a lecture on responsibility and priorities. He said that my job came before family. I handed in my notice then and there.

Welshwife

I think the pay scales and what jobs are worth in the U.K. are all upside down. - if we made a list of jobs or professions in order of importance we would get a very different list to those whose job is paid the most. So many people are doing jobs which are very necessary to peoples health and well-being but they do not get the monetary reward they deserve. It is about time there was not such a huge discrepancy between pay scales. Percentage rises are not always fair either. With the cost of living increases we are all paying the same increased costs so perhaps that should trigger a flat increase to wages to address this particular aspect.

Oh well said. Totally agree with you.

Are you in a union, have you thought about applying to the NHS? I am a nurse of 40+ years and never really contemplated strike action before, but! I am in the RCN and they are balloting about strike action. My personal circumstances mean that I’m ok but I will support strike action for people like you and the NHS, enough is definitely enough now! I think this government will have a fight on their hands once the funeral of HM is done

…and Boris Johnson on leaving his role as Pm stated he’d got social care sorted - don’t tell me he lied to us…

Good lick with your job hunt, your clients will miss you.