Real life example of balancing rights - interested in opinions

Just to make it clear. Intimate personal care includes bathing, helping with toileting including bum wiping, and for females who are menstruating the changing of tampons/pads and cleaning.

It is also worth noting that disabled people are vulnerable to sexual abuse.

So previously only the men did he night shifts and the women lost out on pay?

I don't think the argument that male members of staff have family to support and so should get the overtime, rather than a female staff member, is going to go down well, OP. This is a feminism board.

Particularly when the shift in question is usually a pretty cushy one, enabling the person concerned to sleep through most of it. I speak as someone who at one point in my life used to earn £40 a night for sleeping at a local care home because two of us were required on the premises, me and a nurse. I did it 3 nights a week for a couple of years and was rarely woken.

As someone who has needed intimate personal care I think that anyone who needs such care absolutely should be able to request same-sex care.

My mum received at home care - many of the carers were male, which is quite a new change to the traditional demographic but care is needed and jobs are available - anyway my mum didn't mind at all and actually preferred male company 🤷🏼‍♀️ - many ladies though definitely wouldn't have the male doing their care, so it was always a mixed couple if calls were double up and always difficult for rota management if single calls.
However, and not discussed much, some men really dislike relying on women, particularly younger women helping with their care - is there a right for them to have male care?

I think this is a really good example of why rights are/should be ‘category based’ as far as possible so you can say ‘these are the rules’ and everyone understands that balances may feel a bit wrong in individual situations but should be right overall.

The real question is ‘is there a right to same sex care?’ That right could be given in law, or in the contract between the client and the service provider.

if there is, all the staff should be told, on hiring, that clients have a right to same sex care and that shifts may need to be adjusted accordingly.

Sad as it is, your sister doesn’t have the right to continuity of care because logically that is impossible to provide as staff can leave at any time.

On the other hand, maybe there isn’t a right to same sex care? (I don’t actually know whether there is or isn’t). If there isn’t, it becomes a balance of competing rights (employment rights of staff, best interests of clients etc).

In terms of the rights of staff to be given particular shifts, that will depend on their employment contract but my guess would be it would give significant flexibility to the employer.

I understand from your point of view your sister’s continuity of care is hugely important and the changes are affecting her health. But she can’t have a continuity of care ‘right’ because staff are of course free to take other jobs.

Some care places have only one at night if there are no particular overnight needs and it's a small place - often it's a sleep in shift.l, but may be a waking one if one can manage all the clients' needs - there's no cooking/cleaning/taking out etc required overnight which needs more than one.
It's very, very sad OP - changes often set people back. It is unusual that care staff stay at one place for a long time, so I imagine this home is lovely and worked for everyone.
So I'm not sure of my answer, change will always happen, and sometimes adversely affect people, but you can't stop that just try to manage the situation as well as possible until things settle. However, such a drastic change caused by a new client is so upsetting for more folk that I think some discussion should be had prior to it happening. Was this really the right place for the new girl for instance? Sometimes people are put into the wrong place but it's needs driven - lack of spaces, care place needing cash etc. I would prefer and do think that current clients' needs are maintained but practically that will rarely happen and the bottom line is everyone is receiving required care so that's enough, if not ideal at all.
Have you discussed management of the situation? Is it long term or May the new person leave soon? I hope all settles soon.

I doubt it would. It's a perfectly reasonable requirement that only female staff do intimate care for female residents especially if they have serious physical or mental disabilities. Tbh for safeguarding and privacy reasons no male members of staff should have been allowed to do personal care for a non verbal female resident.
I'm sorry if the residence was not properly staffed before and that the operators haven't hired a full time member of staff for overnight care but it's not sex discrimination to say a female member of staff must be on shift at all times it's literally basic safeguarding

This doesn’t make sense as there should be more than one person on at night.

I agree the other resident has the right to female staff for personal care. So one member of staff needs to be female.

Unless the other resident requires all female staff for mobilising etc. I can’t see why there can’t be male staff on duty too.

I agree it might reduce the number of night shifts open to male staff but there still should be some shifts.