Care Workers, bottom of the pile?

[randomer]

I am interested to hear from anybody who works or has worked in Care.

I worked for 2 companies and I was incredibly naive. The current situation has brought it all back to me. Here are some things I encountered..

• carers keeping the office sweet to ensure they " got the hours" ie underreporting worrying situations. Filling in the daily log before seeing the client ie going through the motions

*being asked to basically colllude with dragging an old lady up stairs because family were very wealthy and care company wanted to keep them on side.

• being asked to see somebody with very serious MH issues and told you can only go in pairs. When somebody was off being told, oh it's OK dont worry.
• being witness to a crime against a client and required to attend court at own expense and in own time.

There are many more.

I’ve worked in care for years. Both in mental health units and with elderly in dementia units.

Everywhere I’ve worked has been a disgrace. Staff abs residents both treated appallingly, managers don’t care and most of the time they are the ones who are doing it.

The amount of times I reported to the CQC and nothing happened. Nothing changed. Mostly it ended with head office coming into bollock the staff who had reported.

Staff go in sick all the time because they are pressured to by managers and no sick pay means you can’t afford to be off anyway. Bugs spread like wildfire but as long as staff are in, managers don’t give a shit.

I’ve so many heartbreaking stories.

I've worked in care homes since 1993. Some of the things I've seen beggar belief. It's a grim business. A successful care home manager is someone who can conceal what is really going on when CQC visit.

And they cover it all up to relatives who think their elderly loved ones are being well cared for. Some places put on a really good show for visitors.

I work in a small care home - private, not part of a chain. Hardly ever use agency staff as have regular long standing staff. Manager of care home started out as a care assistant many years ago and is hands on and supportive.

And they cover it all up to relatives who think their elderly loved ones are being well cared for. Some places put on a really good show for visitors.

Indeed. I always wince when someone comes along to say their auntie was in a good one and was well cared for. Even the ones who don't actively harm or neglect still get residents up at the crack of dawn, feed them substandard food and stick them in front of the TV with cartoons blaring on.

This is so awful to read.
When do people think it started getting this bad? I don't think it's always been like this. I remember visiting an elderly relative in a lovely well-run state care home in the 80s. It was clean, comfortable, and residents seemed happy (she liked it there) and had access to lots of activities. Was it all a facade even then or did things go wrong more recently?

The home my relative was in during the 80s didn't just stick residents in front of the TV. They had all sorts of things including beautifully made craft items that were sold to visitors.

I think things might've been different then. She didn't have dementia and was physically not too bad either. She was able to go to the local shops on her own for example.

I've only ever worked in private homes which have been universally awful. Some are clean and well appointed, but it's a case of scratching the surface really. Some residents may be happy, it depends upon their care needs and if they can advocate for themselves. A bolshy old person who pushes their nurse call buzzer and can loudly demand attention will usually fare better than a quiet stroke resident who can't express themselves. The same with relatives. Bolshy, demanding ones who visit frequently will secure better care than the non demanding, compliant ones who don't put any pressure on staff.

I rarely saw abuse, but casual neglect caused by overworked and stressed staff was rife. Nothing malicious, but people can't keep up due to workload and numbers.

I used to work in a care home and it wasn't as bad as you have described but some practices were shocking especially the moving and handling and we would be getting people up early and treating it like a task list. Noone got a lie in and it was institutionalized.

They treated staff like crap and we were rarely paid correctly. I was never given breaks even though we weren't paid for the breaks. We were paid minimum wage and they would of paid less if they could. We would have to sneak out of the unit some days just to get a breather. I remember once I was sick at home and called work they told me to just come in.

Luckily the care assistants were good at their job but we didn't have the support and resources we needed.

I left and now work for an amazing company and management care about the service users and staff. I can't imagine working how I used to and would report it now tbh.

Residential homes are different from care homes which take high dependency nursing residents. I only ever worked in nursing homes. Perhaps residential residents fare better because they're not as dependent and can express themselves and seek out meaningful activities and trips out.

Things I have seen:

People left in a dirty and wet pad all day long.

Shocking pressure sores.

Unsafe moving and handling practises.

A carer slap and swear at an elderly dementia resident - I reported this and lost my job.

No hot water or heating.

Numerous drug errors.

People routinely left in pain.

People given complan type drinks instead of a meal as drinking is faster than eating.

People left in bed all day as not enough staff to get them up.

People got up at 4am, dressed, then put back onto their beds ready for the day staff.

The worst meal I ever had to feed someone was tomato soup poured over instant mashed potato.

Past two years I worked mostly nightshift - three of us would start at 4am changing pads and dressing just to get everyone done for the day staff at 8am.

My experience was dom care ie traveling from place to place on a zero hours contract.

I was unusual because it was an extra wage for my family so as I wised up , I became more assertive. The more you keep your head down, the more hours you get. Thats how it goes. The office hates a conscientous worker. The clients often very lonely ,enjoyed gossip and playing people off against each other.