Care for profit must end

Mina Fraser, care worker and UNISON member

As a care worker, I am paid the minimum allowable wage of £12.60 per hour. This amount does not change if I work overtime, overnight, or over weekends. I work 12 hours straight, many days missing breaks, caring for the elderly and sick.

My older coworkers remember a time where care work consisted mostly of having cups of tea and chats. They reminisce on those times with me as we rush through the too many pad changes scheduled every two hours between serving meals, snacks, and drinks. There are only two carers to ten highly dependent, incontinent, residents. We are told to make do.

A lovely older lady often begs us to take a while to sit and chat with her, as she gets lonely. A quick glance at the clock tells us that a chat, for any length of time, would put us even more behind schedule. We promise her we will try to make time later in the day.

We have a few empty rooms, so we might get a chance to chat after tea, depending on if there are many bowel movements to clean. I wonder when the day will come when we are told a new resident is moving in. It never takes too long for a room to be filled once it’s become empty.

The thought haunts us all, as we remember the awful times of the past, and the possibilities of their replication. How many hours of extra work will be tacked onto our existing workload, without any extra compensation or assistance?

Two carers can manage the unit now, but we couldn’t with another resident who requires transfer by hoist multiple times a day and to be fed at each meal.

This isn’t taken into consideration. The residents aren’t taken into consideration. We are not taken into consideration. What is taken into consideration is profit.

Filling beds turns a profit. Keeping staffing at a minimum turns a profit. Paying care staff a poverty wage turns a profit. Working staff to the bone at the expense of the care we provide turns a profit.

Care for profit must end.