Carers' salaries

[Blueberrycreampie]

We have employed carers for over 10 years now on a full time live in basis, for both my fil and now mil. Originally it was through an agency but after a few years we negotiated and employed them ourselves. One of the original carers is still with us and works 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off.

We have had a number of carers filling in for Susan (not her real name), and they have lasted from 3 weeks to 2 years. Although MIL is very elderly and incapacitated, she is still in reasonable health so this could go on for years? In that time, carers' wages have doubled and some carers are asking ridiculous amounts of money (IMO). MIL's savings are running out and she will not consider selling her large house to free up money.

Is anyone else in this situation and finding that carers are demanding a lot of money for the job they actually do. It works out about £50,000 a year!

Carers don’t get paid enough. I’m fact I know cleaners on a better rate.

They deserve it. I’ve been a carer and left for better jobs and money. All have been far, FAR easier than my time spent as a carer.

Thanks all, I think we're going to have to look at residential care so we can free up some money to pay for it.

Thanks all, I think we're going to have to look at residential care so we can free up some money to pay for it
Its so difficult isn’t it once the person’s savings if they gave any have been spent. Finding that kind of money yourself is pretty much impossible.

Well yes, we've been paying for a while but unfortunately can't afford to for much longer. She does get an Attendance Allowance of £370 which is something, and of course all costs have risen, heating food, maintenance etc.

Does the person have more than I think it’s 23/24k in savings?

Sorry but I’m not a ‘part time’ carer. I work 16 hour days as a domiciliary carer. Your way of thinking is completely skewed. So you think unless you’re literally either working or on call 24 hours a day then you’re only part time? You say that they live at yours rent free as if that’s some sort of bonus for them. No one WANTS to have live with their employer who they’re having to care for and be responsible for all of the time. You are meant to pay MORE for a live in carer as having to actually live with the service user is a complete minus, you generally pay a decent hourly wage, plus extra for them having to live in. The wages you are paying for a live in carer is absolutely pitiful and I have no idea how you’ve got someone to work for that. I thought my pay was bad, but I’m definitely happy to crack on with my £160 a day minimum wage and get to go home every night to my own bed than work your sort of hours for pennies.

Dsd's carers get £10 and hour for waking shifts and £42 for a sleep in (10pm-6am) since so £202 for 24 hours. The weekend staff do Friday morning to Monday morning usually.

Little enough so MIL can hold onto her large house I expect.

We’ll if she’s not willing to sell her house to pay for care then I’m not sure what you expect? Of course caters should get paid a decent salary, and that’s not even that high considering they will be on call pretty much the whole day and evening. I’d expect to pay more tbh.

That is as the going rate for live in when were in the midst of it last year.
The choice was that or a nursing home and neither parent wanted that so we had two live in carers through an agency. We obv paid a bit more for agency fees but for that there was peace of mind that if a carer fell ill cover would be sent. We only needed carers for 18 months. Mum and dad died in quick succession. I wish we still needed to employ carers tbh....

I would say that sounds about right. A live-in carer employed by a company would usually earn over £100 per day (possibly more if caring for a couple) and would then receive sick pay, holiday pay, weekly food allowance and daily 2 hour break cover. I would therefore expect that a privately employed live-in carer without these benefits would expect a higher day rate.
its a great option if you can afford it but many people need to be able to sell their home to release funds to pay for care, leaving residential as the only option.

Sleeping nights where I am are £150 per night alone. Does mil really need 24/7 care? Can you reduce to 4 care visits per day?

Thank you, it's an option we're looking at!

So sorry for your loss!

We would love it if she would agree to sell her house.

Has she had a full care assessment through adult social care team?

Did she have a social services assessment that said she needs 24 hour care?

I know some places have a threshold that if more than 4 visits a day are needed then residential care is advised.

That's cheap I get paid 200 for a 24 hour shift.

I'm interested how you became a self employed carer, I'm currently looking into this. Any advice or tips would be great.

Interesting thread - I'm struggling to get carers for my son.

I've done years of very hard study while working and caring to become a nurse, (started as a healthcare assistant)

I have a debt of £60k, I did additional study which cost me another £5k and worked up to band 7 and I get just over £21 an hour.

Ime, "taking breaks" as a carer means you can eat your lunch/piss about on your phone etc if everything is done and if you are not needed for personal care but if a resident or caree needs the loo halfway through your sandwich it's tough shit. You put your sandwich down and help, so it's not "breaks" as in it is your time to do as you please and you will be uninterrupted for the entirety of your break. So, not really a break in the traditional sense of "lunch breaks" at work. You are still on duty during your breaks as a carer.

Ditto sleep in time. Yes, you can sleep but if a resident needs something you wake up and attend to them. I have never done a sleep-in shift where I had a full night's sleep without interruptions.

OP, I doubt you will find residential care much cheaper, if at all cheaper. I also agree £140 a day is not unreasonable for live-in care. I live in the NE and I would expect that much for a 24-hour, sleepover shift.

Also I'd like to know what carers think of this very common event:

My son who needs the care sometimes likes to quietly read or watch TV, do his coursework on his adapted laptop. He needs Intermittent help to plug things in, get his headphones on etc, so dipping in and out.

He currently lives at home with his younger brother, his dad or with me when his dad is away (we are not together). We both work long hours and are exhausted, like everyone. There is always lots of domestic chores to be done - laundry, tidying the boys (shared) bedroom and sorting their clothes, cleaning, etc etc, the usual stuff. Also researching what to do that is accessible and fun for my son, applying for cinema or transport cards etc etc

However, multiple times our carers spend their shift sat on their phones reading or studying and have told us it's not their job to do domestic chores.

I have NEVER done this on any shift I was getting paid for as a carer or as a nurse (when I was doing one to one) or as a student nurse regardless of my hourly rate. I have always been busy either engaging with the patient, researching activities, equipment, cleaning, tidying.. anything useful for the patient or the family.

Do any of you carers think this is ever acceptable because I'm not joking, almost ever single one we've had has done this.

We are nice and kind and like people to feel comfortable. It's a home environment so it's sort of hard not having people in it that we don't want to feel at ease. And I live in hope that we'll get carers who work like I did. It feels wrong to try and force people if they don't want to do this stuff.

And because we're desperate we put up with it.

There's a bit of almost an aggressive tone to this thread regarding pay and boundaries and this is what I'm experiencing with our carers, they seem to be defining what their role is and to be honest, because I've worked in a different way.

I find it hard to accept and I feel really sad for my son who will have to manage this all himself. He finds it really hard to ask carers to do anything as it is because he is afraid of annoying them and it saddens me very much when I get home the carer has her study books out, the laundry is still sky high and my son asks me if I can take him for a wee.

Also they ask us to pay their parking- none of my employers have ever paid for my parking - is this something carers expect too? And if we go out as a family for food I always buy their food because I would feel terrible not doing so. Also if carers take my son out he will do the same because he wants to eat out - so he'll pay for the carer's meal. We don't have much money at all, certainly not my son, but seems to be expected and I don't know what to do about this either.

Paying expenses such as parking and meals when on duty eg for days out is usual. Even social services and LAs pay this for carers.

Wrt laundry etc I wouldn't expect your son's carer to be doing the whole family's laundry but they should be doing his laundry if that is what is agreed with the carer/agency. Ditto light cleaning. They should clean up after your son and carry out light cleaning in his personal spaces but they should not be cleaning up after family members.