Social care is broken.

[Atmywitsend29]

It's 0440am where I am and I just need to get this off my chest, the healthcare system is on its knees. And I'm not talking NHS, I'm talking social care.
I'm head of care in a private care home. We are permanently short staffed, my ward is small because it's dementia and EMI. But I frequently work alone, or have one agency hca. In the past week we've had 3 permanent staff members go off sick, and the agency staff keep testing positive when they turn up to, so have to be sent home.
The home have taken in two new residents for my ward, knowing it's me and an agency hca at best overnight, and a head of care/senior and an HCA in the day. We've been saying for weeks it's too much.
In the past few days we've had 6 unwitnessed falls, luckily all resulting in nil or very minor injury.
I sat in my office and cried about an hour ago because I feel like I'm drowning.
The company can't seem to hire anyone, or retain anyone, and they can't help people testing positive for covid.
They don't care about us staff however, every time we say it's too much and we need more staff or less patients we just get ignored. I'm not the only one who feels like this.
I'm waiting for a start date for a new job but I honestly I don't know how I'm going to cope for another few weeks here and I can't afford to not come because my DH is doing agency work since losing his job just before Xmas.

I don't even know what I want from this post, I just needed to get it off my chest. I've got another 4 hours of shift left. And back again tonight.

@Kshhuxnxk, there is something called a break, you know 10 or 20 mins. We are allowed to have a break sometime in our shift.

@Kleopatrared
Not just adult social care !

And yet during your shift you're on MN?

You know OP gets breaks don't you? Is there any need for such a snide post? Let's see you do the job.

I will never understand why private care is ok, companies care about making money not whether the person being cared for is happy with all their physical and emotional needs met. I’m sorry you’re leaving, clearly a true loss to the patients as you care. It is so broken and hopeless

Care needs to be back in state control. Sure have private care, but state care should be back in joint NHS / Local Gov control. I’m not saying it would be Nirvana but at least people could be redeployed in a crisis.

Social care is broken.
The NHS is broken.
Education is broken.
The Police force are broken
Energy companies are broken.
Britain is broken.

I’m sorry sorry. It’s awful.
And then you get twats like me phoning or emailing because we have to do a section 42 safeguarding enquiry for an unwitnessed fall or medication error. What a joke.

I left care about 5 years ago. I was in the community and I had some personal problems which I felt made me not able to be the carer people needed. I actually spoke to my boss and said I either needed to change my service users to ones who didnt require me to be so emotionally involved or I would have to leave.
I completely understood that I would have to cover sometimes etc but after 2 weeks the same service users ended up on my round. I had no choice but to leave. We were constantly understaffed and friends I still have working there are at the end of their tether.
Nothing will change until someone with the power to change things has to go through it with their family members.

@Kshhuxnxk

And yet during your shift you're on MN?

Unfortunately we've not quite reached the technology that means we just get plugged into the wall and recharged. We need to rehydrate, eat and use the toilet like anyone else. I realise that some find that distasteful and think our only reason for existing is to provide care to others, but really we are humans who have needs of our own that can only be sidelined for so long, even for 'duty of care'.

Reporting to the CQC gets you no where. There's no protection when you do, it's not seen as a positive thing within the care industry, rather seen as you putting people's homes and jobs at risk and you're lucky to work in care again if you're a whistleblower. The attitude is that entrenched that people would rather have carers working for them who put up and shut up than speak up and might cause them to spend a bit more money making things right, and basically it's usually the people delivering the care that end up with the blame, no one is interested when we say we can't because of lack of resources, we just get told we should have done it better.

It’s awful in my area as well, unfortunately we have the oldest population in Scotland so it’s not just the fact that pay is abysmal there just isn’t enough young people wanting to be carers to look after people. Then they closed at least 3 of the community hospitals at the start of covid, these should have been re opened as soon as possible to relieve the pressure from the main hospital, the redeployed staff sent back. The hospital is not over run with covid it’s people who can’t get home

@User2638483

I’m sorry sorry. It’s awful. And then you get twats like me phoning or emailing because we have to do a section 42 safeguarding enquiry for an unwitnessed fall or medication error. What a joke.

Yes, and no one wants to listen when we respond to 'why did this happen' with 'we didn't have enough staff', that bits ignored in favour of giving us a dressing down for not being able to defy the laws of physics and be in two places at once. Never have I known a complaint like that be put down to not enough staff available to provide the safe environment that's expected, it's always that we need to do better.

• I do realise that you're just doing your job and it's not your fault. This is the perfect solution for providers, provide as little staff as possible and then they take the blame when it goes tits up and the provider can say that lessons have been learned and heads have rolled, and go back to knowing they're not providing enough staff to meet the needs of the residents they're paid to arrange and provide care for, cover it all up as best they can and then blame someone else when it goes wrong.

The government are now trying to handle the shortage by giving visas to carers. However I’d imagine there will be people claiming to be carers and then will look for better work once over here.

I have a family member in a care home due to physical disability ( not elderly). She moved to the care home because home care was so unreliable. Over Christmas they have bought in agency staff from Liverpool to the south east). These agency staff are 18 year old Indian students who arrived in the UK in September to study for business degrees who are working in their Christmas holidays . She says she has to constantly remind herself it is not their fault but it is completely exhausting having to explain to them what they need to do every time they come through the door. Even scarier is who takes over when they go back to uni.

@Kshhuxnxk

And yet during your shift you're on MN?

How dare I take 5 minutes in the midst of a 13 hour shift to have a wee. How dare I used MN for a bit of escapism whilst I sit on the toilet, and you're damn right I sit there for a few minutes. Because it's the only time I get to sit down.

I don't get a break in 13 hours. Most nights I barely get time to have a wee or a drink.

I will not apologise for that.

@User2638483

I’m sorry sorry. It’s awful. And then you get twats like me phoning or emailing because we have to do a section 42 safeguarding enquiry for an unwitnessed fall or medication error. What a joke.

Honestly, I don't understand how we are still open with the amount of 42s we must have!!

The point raised about the agency staff is completely right aswell, the vast majority of agency staff I get are new to care, have never worked with dementia, speak little English, and need the basic instructions explaining multiple times. Many of them just disappear. I've had to report some of them for sleeping on shift. I'm basically working alone even with them there. It's exhausting.

I tried ringing in sick (I have leftover chest pains from having Covid a year ago, I've currently got a cold and it hurts to breathe in, which I told my manager at the start of the week) spoke to manager today to say my chest is really painful and tight when I breathe. I'm still going to work tonight bc my LFT is negative and I'm not requiring hospital treatment.

@Atmywitsend29

The point raised about the agency staff is completely right aswell, the vast majority of agency staff I get are new to care, have never worked with dementia, speak little English, and need the basic instructions explaining multiple times. Many of them just disappear. I've had to report some of them for sleeping on shift. I'm basically working alone even with them there. It's exhausting.

I tried ringing in sick (I have leftover chest pains from having Covid a year ago, I've currently got a cold and it hurts to breathe in, which I told my manager at the start of the week) spoke to manager today to say my chest is really painful and tight when I breathe. I'm still going to work tonight bc my LFT is negative and I'm not requiring hospital treatment.

It just goes to show how little we value (as a society) the care of those who need it because they are elderly, disabled and/or vulnerable, that this, alongside being short staffed regularly and protecting a businesses profit margin,is an acceptable alternative to funding care adequately to ensure good, competent staff are available to meet people's needs properly and consistently. It's all so disjointed and money driven.

I ended up turning down a relatively well paid nursing job in a care home last year. Read some reviews which mentioned endless short staffing and overwork, all whilst the multimillionaire owners are making a fortune.
It’s an awful situation, I feel so sorry for the service users and dedicated staff.