To think pay in care homes is scandalous

[Clappingforjoy]

I've worked in then and got out of it. Understaffed rushed off your feet. Rude management and simply unable to give the elderly the care they deserve.

American hard right winger alert!!!!!!

"All you need is food and basic needs, utilities and rent money"

So how will the companies selling other goods survive Shit For Brains?

I am work in a nursing home/residential home, firstly as a team leader, its privately owned, we are over staffed, we have a waiting list, we are always full, our best advertising for both jobs and rooms is recommendations. Not all homes/owners are the same. But we seem to get tarred with the same brush.

Dick how appropriate I don't see why the lovely people caring for my dad shouldn't have mobile phones and cable TV for their families.

@Dick1932 we are talking about British not Americans that name though 😂😂😂

That name’s very appropriate.

You just can't raise a family ,Buy food/ clothes, pay the rent/ bills etc on minimum wage. If care homes paid better, recruited more staff so the hours were not as long, less pressure etc then hey might attract more applicants. The situation will get worse after brexit.

Id rather be on universal credit than slave away working in a care home again for a pittance and no respect

As an ex care home manager I agree with all of the above comments.
What I do find appalling is that some people pay private say 500.00 to 700.00 pounds a week and get no better treatment than someone who does not have to pay a penny.
I had albeit a few years ago now 2.50 per day per resident to feed them breakfast dinner tea and supper as well as juice and fruits.
I could go on forever with this I am thinking of writing a book about it but not sure how legal it will be.

Governments and regulatory bodies set out conditions and yet the councils don't pay sufficient to cover basic costs.

In addition to the basic hourly rate staff are paid if you add NIC, SSP, pension, holidays, and paid training time, which can nearly double the charge. Many care/nursing homes offer home care packages also. Until the local authorities pay an adequate amount pay will remain around NMW. Care/Nursing homes need Registered Care Manager/ Matron, Admin staff, Catering Staff, Laundry, cleaning and maintenance in addition to care/nursing staff. Then there is the cost of maintaining the building ie rent, rates etc care home insurance, registration fees, vehicle costs. There is a high volume of laundry at high degree temperatures so it is expensive.

Caring needs to be treated like the worthwhile profession it is and then both standards and quality of care will improve. I'd like to see a body such as National Care Homes Association and CQC review a fair hourly rate for staff and care home charges in line with the standards required.

It is called living within your means. I know people who complain about nursing home wages who
smoke several packs of cigarettes a day (even while on shift when its not their break), they run off to Vegas, Laughlin to stay in hotels and gamble, they go to concerts, these are not needs, these are wants and Americans need to stop this entitlement attitude and learn how tough manage their money and stop squandering it away on nonessentials.

As for business' surviving they survive off those who have a higher education

If you can't afford children, you should not have them. It is not the governments job to support you...live within your means.

This items are not neseccities. Children do not need cell phones, the parents need only one. As for cable TV take your children to the park, lake etc and play with them instead of letting a TV babysit them.

It is called realism.

So revert to name calling like a child. That user name is not my name it is the name of someone I loved and recently lost due to nursing home neglect.

You understand the UK is not a state of America? And that this thread is about UK care homes not US care homes?

Someone working in a care home in the UK with a family to support would not be able to afford to smoke several packs of cigarettes a day, nor would they have the time should they manage to get their hands on several packets of cigarettes a day. Nor would they be able to afford a flight to Vegas on a regular basis. And one could argue that an annual holiday for a full time worker in a stressful, physically demanding job is a need.

YANBU - I looked after my mum at home when she had dementia, to give my brother respite (he was her main carer) and it was utterly exhausting. I reckon care workers should get paid 50k a year.

Now my mum is in a home I can see how the staff just don't have to time to engage with the residents who are always left just sitting silently. One lady who was verbal was quite distressed and a worker did chat to her briefly, but didn't have the time for her she needed.

It must be a tough job and I imagine a lot of the people who really care leave if they feel they can't do the job in the way they feel they should.

It's a societal problem. We as a society need to be prepared to pay more for good care. It's surprising we don't being as so many of us are going to end up in these homes ourselves.

As I said above that is not my name it is a tribute of a loved one who died due to nursing home neglect.

This issue is world wide and higher wages are not the answer; the answer is more staffing on all shifts and not for profit homes, they should all be employee owned.

Every time you raise wages, the business owners have to raise their prices and it is a vicious cycle.

@Wibblywobblykaren - are you seriously saying that there should be a two tier social divide in care homes with some treated better than others? That is appalling.

@Alsohuman
care homes are all privately owned. Local authorities sold theirs off decades ago

Well aware of that but if the general public want more money poured into adult social care, then it needs paying for.

Its estimated that approx 5 billion is required to fund social care (year on year) less than has been found for brexit preparations, also Govt has found 10 billion for cuts to higher rate taxpayers...... the Cons are doing well in the polls.....very easy to see where our priorities lay.

So i say again, stop moaning, its what the UK has voted for.

I am not an idiot, yes I know where this thread originated. But this issue is a world wide problem and the complaints are all the same. There needs to be change and raising wages does not give residents better care. Google nursing home abuse or neglect and you will see the problem is world wide.

So are you saying people from other countries shouldn't have an opinion in a problem that is the same everywhere.

As for cable TV take your children to the park, lake etc and play with them instead of letting a TV babysit them.

The Tories closed down vast swathes of children's centers, libraries and parks. The few that remain in my town are poorly maintained and full of dirty needles, broken glass and drug addicts. I would rather chew off my right arm than take young children there.

And do you honestly believe you would get good care workers if the wages didn't reflect the good work they do? I consider myself a good carer. I actually care. I do my upmost to actually spend time with residents. In fact I worked thirty minutes unpaid this morning after sitting with a resident who was distressed pushed back all calls by thirty minutes. I don't have enough rest time/breaks at the back end of a busy night shift to catch up. I don't mind. I would never have walked out and left a resident in tears, even if meant staying an hour or more until her next call but I only do care work because it's the only job I can find in my town with the hours available that I need. If Aldi offered 50 hours a week or more I would go there for more pay and less stress. I enjoy my job, I genuinely care about the residents and would class some of them as friends but I need to out my own family first. I have bills that need paying and realistically I am not going to be able to work 70 hours a week, long term so if a job with the same pay as I get now for less hours comes up I will be taking it and will wish a sad farewell to the lovely people I care for.

Many good carers before me have done the same and many will after me. It won't change until pay and working conditions reflect the reality of the work we do.

This issue is world wide and higher wages are not the answer; the answer is more staffing on all shifts and not for profit homes, they should all be employee owned.

I disagree. DD is in a specialist residential care home, run by a charity. She is funded for 1:1 care all her waking hours (roughly 14 hours a day), and there are night staff in the office, watching over her (using visual and auditory monitors, and a mattress alarm) all night. Other residents may be funded for 2:1 or 3:1 or 4:1 depending on how challenging their behaviour is! There is also an on-site medical centre, open 24/7, and a multi disciplinary team of consultants, speech therapists, OTs, physios, psychologists, social workers, etc.

However, there is still a considerable care staff turnover, because while the staff are paid above NMW, it is still not enough for the hard work and long shifts - they can earn more in easier jobs. There is also a reliance on agency staff; which is not ideal.

There have to be higher wages, as well as more staff in homes for the elderly. (DD does not need anymore staff where she is)

Finally, I have never seen a member of staff smoking on shift - it would set off the smoke alarms for a start! I may occasionally see one smoking outside, out of sight on a break, but that is all!

Smoking is banned in public places in the UK, so wouldn't happen here. Staff would have to go off-site to smoke.

Sorry, indoor public places.

Faceorembrace
That is not what I said.
I said that I found it scandalous that private payers were paying up to 700.00 per week for the same care as others so if you have money and can pay for your care you will.
Care should be paid for by the government whatever your financial circumstances that's what you pay for your NI for.
I apologise if I have offended anyone and for any misunderstanding.
It's just my opinion.