The way older people are treated is a disgrace – help Labour to help care workers

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/24/older-people-labour-care-workers

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Care workers do some of the most important and valuable work in society. They look after older and disabled people, going into their homes to help with everything from washing and using the toilet to preparing their meals and taking the right medications. Often, they provide the only human contact and companionship someone will have all day.

It is a disgrace that those who care the most are respected the least

Yet care workers are subject to one of Britain’s largest illegal wage scandals. Up to 220,000 of them – one-in-six of the total workforce – are being paid less than the minimum wage. This is often because their employers refuse to pay for the travel time it takes to get from one home to the next. As a result, they lose on average £815 a year.

The problem is endemic. More than half of the companies recently investigated by HMRC didn’t pay the minimum wage, owing £1.3m to nearly 7,000 workers. Yet, despite this, only a handful have been named and shamed and in total fined an insulting £153,000.

The scandal doesn’t stop at pay. Many professional carers get little if any training and are forced to provide support in slots that last barely 15 minutes. A staggering 300,000 are employed on zero-hours contracts.

This leaves them stressed and frustrated, unable to plan their lives, pay their bills or do their job properly. And it means older people get rushed, impersonal visits, without even having the dignity of knowing who will turn up in the morning to get them out of their beds and take them to the toilet.

None of this even makes any financial sense. Poor quality social care means older people are forced to use more expensive hospital services, compounding the ongoing crisis in A&E and costing the NHS millions of pounds.

In the 21st century, in one of the richest countries in the world, it is a disgrace that older people are treated so badly, and those who care the most are respected the least. The Tory-led government has done nothing to help these workers but, together, Labour and Unison are delivering real change. Nationally, thousands of people signed a Unison petition calling for more action from the government and Labour MPs have been pushing the issue in parliament.

Unison’s Ethical Care Charter shows the way forward, and Labour councils such as Islington, Nottingham, Oldham and Southwark are putting its principles into practice, including ending inappropriate 15-minute home visits and ensuring all care workers are paid the living wage.

This election gives us a huge chance to change care for good. We need a Labour government that will crack down on providers who pay illegally low wages, champion the living wage and ban exploitative zero-hours contracts. Labour will also join up care from home to hospital, and will transform training in social care with new apprenticeships and a new generation of 5,000 home care workers in the NHS.

Care workers help make Britain a country to be proud of. We need a government that will stand up for them, and the people they support. That’s the difference Labour makes – and a big reason to vote Labour on 7 May.