Sam Evans, Care Manager, 57, Portsmouth
Working as a care manager for 25 years in a company looking after over 500 clients with just over 100 carers, I’ve dealt with the pressures of the care sector firsthand. During Covid, we didn’t have any time off and had to source PPE ourselves, because our priority was keeping people safe, but this came at the cost of not giving people the time and care they deserved. National guidelines suggested we give people just 15 minutes– barely enough time to get someone up and dressed, let alone washed or given a hot meal – and I’d had enough.
I’ve since gone out on my own, leading my own care company where we can give people hour long visits. Now a lot of my time with clients is spent on social activities and enriching their lives – like taking someone to visit MacLaren because they loved fast cars or staying with someone for a weekend, playing music and going for walks, to allow their family a much-needed break. But sadly, care workers in big companies are working against the clock, and simply don’t have enough time to give someone that extra care which gives quality to the few years or months they might have left.
A cross-party group of MPs, supported by Alzheimer’s Society, reported last year that over a quarter of people affected by dementia didn’t feel involved in planning the care they received, and less than half felt care staff had a good understanding of dementia. I know from training new carers that they’re eager to learn and thrive in their career, but a lack of progression, low pay and long working hours means many are forced out of an industry they entered with high hopes. As a manager I used to source dementia training for carers, but this isn’t the norm – companies prioritise training on moving and handling, food safety and medication over dementia or mental health, due to a lack of time and funding, even though most people they care for are living with dementia.
Sadly, care workers just aren’t recognised in the same way other healthcare workers are. There’s also a misunderstanding about who needs social care. Everyone understands what the NHS is there for – they may have gone into hospital for an operation for example – but not everyone understands that if someone has dementia, it’s social care looking after them rather than the NHS. And you can see that the social care system is broken when ambulances are waiting outside hospitals for beds currently filled with people desperate for a care package. Given our failure to prioritise social care like our healthcare system, it’s no surprise care vacancies sit at 165,000 – the highest number to date.
Alzheimer’s Society have called for a People Plan for social care, which would focus on better pay, career progression and mandatory training. I’ve met so many talented, hardworking care workers in nearly thirty years working in the sector. The system is failing them and by extension it fails everyone who needs to access social care. But change is possible, and by recruiting and retaining staff, who feel recognised for the quality work they do, we can make sure that people with dementia get the personalised care which lets them lead they lives they want.
