To hope things improve in the care industry

[Maddymorphosis]

I've only worked for one home care company so cannot comment on others but I really feel for the clients, and hope that changes are made. Also feel for carers.

In order to make a decent salary I had to work 7 days a week at times, morning until night.
I used to work 12 days on, 2 days off and it took my agency 4 months to give me an extra day off.

We work across a large town and I am not a driver. I was put in the one area where the calls are too far apart to walk, a mile between them sometimes, or more, which is a lot when you aren't allocated any travel time.

Constantly asked to stay a couple of hours extra and finish late. Today I was due to finish at 10:30, asked at 10am can I stay until 2 instead, I said no. This happens every week now, I do say yes sometimes.

Constantly phoned up on days off, I've stopped answering the phone. If I do answer sometimes, it's not even to ask for overtime, it's to tell me things like 'When you went to X service user, what did you do?' even though I am not even in work. So I stopped answering, even though I had 4 missed calls today.

Still asked to come in if sick, no pay for first 5 days off.
Families who have unrealistic expectations and are rude, though there are lovely ones too. Some do see you as a servant.
Expected to contact agency, gp, pharmacy, 111 etc despite already being incredibly stretched for time.
Rota done one week before and can change last minute.

Paid around 30p more an hour than minimum wage.

I found I've lost my passion for it and it's not fair on the service users. You find yourself doing what you can to save time, I'm expected to complete visits and get between 8 people in 2 and a bit hours.

I do really feel for the service users, I feel like I am not going above and beyond like some carers do. I will be leaving very soon and it is a shame, it might just be the company I'm with but I feel as though a lot of them are the same. Has anybody else managed successfully with home care or have similar experiences?

If you don't drive, then look for a job in a care home. Some are awful and some are lovely. I used to work in a lovely family run care home, though it should have been as I think the fees were £1200 a week! I also worked in a care home run by q large company, which was horrible, I'd hate to end up there when I'm old.

It's crap but can you not look for a job as a care assistant in a nursing home ?
The pay will still be crap ,but at least you would get paid for hours worked and you only have to travel to work and back

Care work is utterly horrendous. It completely takes advantage of womens - and it is womens - caring natures.

I think it's a good idea to look in a home yes, I don't mind travelling as such, it's just when we are given zero time allocated to get from one house to another and have endless visits squeezed in because they don't have the staff

Im a social worker and social care is a bleak, heartbreaking, empty void.
Absolutely horrific every single day.
I wouldn't be a carer or run a care agency for all the money in the world.
It needs to be a proud, trained for, recognised career for anything to change.
Good carers literally save lives and are scarce and paid peanuts and worked like slaves.
No answers but lots of sympathy.

Friend worked in care home and she said she didn't have time to do anything other than basic tasks as there was just not enough time. They always ran short staffed and she was constantly asked to extend 8hrs shifts to 12hrs. She felt sorry for residents as they weren't allowed visitors in lockdown and many were lonely and missing family. She left after three months for much better paid office job.

Care work is aimed at women.
It fits In with family hours...sometimes...and pays less than its worth.

Yet all we hear is our elderly and Infirm deserve the best care until it comes for paying for it....

I really hear you OP

I feel like I am not going above and beyond like some carers do

You shouldn't have to work yourself to death for next to nothing just to make up the shortfall in provision. You have absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.

I have a pair of elderly relatives who, to be honest, are both in need of extensive care, yet the local authority has failed to provide any help whatsoever, ostensibly because they say there is just no capacity to provide any. They are not disputing my relatives' need, they've been assessed and there isn't any question about entitlement or need, the LA has essentially told them that there is nobody available, so tough shit. Unless they can source the help themselves, then essentially set themselves up as an employer, including all the associated Tax and NI nonsense, then there is no avenue to getting any of the help they require any time soon. It's absolutely ludicrous.

Yet another aspect of this wonderful society we've built in the UK where the public expect exemplary services but are totally unwilling to actually put their hands in their pockets and pay for it, and our disgusting, reprehensible governments who are happy to sell anything and everything off to profit-making providers, deregulate, and then still try to pretend that somehow won't result in a race to the bottom in order to maintain margins.

It sickens me that people in the UK are never slow to talk about how much they value NHS workers, how much they cherish our elderly and expect them to be treated with dignity, yet are happy to elect utter scoundrels who are ideologically hell-bent on eroding standards of provision for the purpose of lining their own pockets and those of their chums. There's a lot of cheap talk in the UK, but a whole lot more ruthless self-interest that results in policies that are totally at odds with the supposed concerns, and entirely counter-productive in the longer-term.

I have endless admiration for anyone who chooses to go into care or health provision as an occupation, but I also think you'd be utterly mad to consider it under current circumstances. I really can't feel anything but sympathy and understanding for those who are leaving.

I worked in home care for three years. I was also on a 12 day on 2 day off rota. I was scheduled rounds from 9am (only because I refused to start before then) until at least 9pm (usually 11pm) every single one of those days. No breaks scheduled at all. I asked once when I was going to be able to grab lunch and was told to ‘bring something you can eat whilst you’re driving’. I had numerous uti’s, bladder and kidney infections from having to hold my urine. I was just told to wee in the service users homes but a lot of them you couldn’t.
I did drive which just meant that I would usually have 20 calls a day. I would have to cut calls to get a break. I never once left before everything that they needed done was done but I could have spent time having a chat (and earning more money as we were paid by the minute).
Just before I left they were doubling up rounds which meant that tea/dinner calls were starting at 2:30pm and put to bed calls were starting at 5:30pm. It’s not fair for the service users to be put to bed hours before they are ready and it’s not fair for the carers to be abused for it.
I get that the care companies are on their knees but quite frankly the amount of calls I would get to take on extra calls or shifts or to work on my days off (or even when I was on prebooked holiday) really was ultimately harassment. Not to mention the attitude the coordinators would give you when you refused.

I did enjoy the job. The vast majority of my service users were lovely and I miss them but I made the right decision to leave. I actually get to spend time with my dc now.

People telling the OP to get a job in - I am not saying that this is bad advice, but the OP would probably have to pay for her own Dbs check, own uniform and possible undertake unpaid training.

That’s a lot of money, especially for someone on just above minimum wage.

I’ve just started in a care home.

Didn't have to pay for the DBS check or any training - I get paid for training (a new experience for me after years of volunteering and doing training in my own time).
I was given uniform admittedly get a deduction at the end if I don’t give it back, but think it was only £10.

I’m bank so don’t have contracted hours which suits me and my life and my return to work after a long time out of work.

It’s exhausting atm and there’s so much I don’t know, yet. But there are times when we can sit with the residents and chat with them/hold their hand/etc.

They’d happily have me work all day every day but it’s up to me to control that.

I knew that home care would not be for me, mostly as I wouldn’t be able to do the job the way I wanted/the way it should be done.

So, I would agree with others and try working in a care home instead.

Have a look if they are taking on at your local hospital " Bank" for staff the pay still won't be great but the conditions should be better ?i used to be a nurse and hospital,s couldn't function without Bank staff .

Love and respect to you OP, iv'e been there. I'm out of it now.

@Winterfruits

If a care home doesn't include uniform and training, it's a shit care home. I think I paid for my DBS, but definitely not my uniform, and they put me onto a NVQ level 3 in care.

I was also going to suggest your local hospital or other NHS location, have a look on the hospital website under vacancies or take a look at the NHS jobs website in the first instance. For both bank and permanent/fixed term contracts. This is how lots of people start in the NHS. (Be prepared for a longish recruitment process though, things are definitely about 3 times as slow now as when I first joined the NHS, even when you're just moving department!)

And as others have said, not all care homes or companies are the same, there are some good ones. If you look on glassdoor you'll see reviews of what a lot of places are like to work for.

Good luck, whatever you decide.