Care workers say their jobs impact their mental health and doesn't cover food or bills

Most care staff (81 per cent) feel their care work has affected their mental health, a report reveals and care leaders say the £1.5bn announced for social care by the Chancellor is a ‘very tiny sticking plaster’ that won’t fix social care’s ills.

Credit: Altanaka/ Shutterstock

A report published by the National Association of Care and Support Workers (NACAS) also revealed over half of staff (51.4 per cent) believe their care work does not cover their bills and food.

Some 79 per cent of care staff also said they have experienced or felt ‘close to burn out’.

The report, published on 4 September, which is ‘Professional Care Workers Day’, is based on 808 responses of people in the care sector and reveals staff can suffer mental health issues, feel undervalued and face severe financial problems.

Almost 85 per cent believe they don’t earn enough money for a good quality of life.

The report ‘The Well-being of Professional Care Workers’, published on the same day as the Chancellor’s Spending Round, produced much discussion by care leaders at Amnesty International’s Human Rights Action Centre.

Social care is about more than ‘bum-wiping’

Karolina Gerlich, a care worker and chief executive of NACAS, brought together care leaders for the event and told the audience that the public’s perception of care workers must change. “People think of personal care and bum wiping but social care is about more than that.”

“The truth is, social care is not recognised for the hard work that we do in it.

“At the end of the day, even those providers who want to support the staff better, if there’s no financial support centrally for that, there is very little people can do.”

Referring to the Chancellor’s announcement of £1.5 billion for social care, she said “Even if all of this money somehow materialises, it’s nowhere near enough to what the sector needs. It’s a very, very tiny sticking plaster.

Karolina Gerlich, chief executive of NACAS. Credit: NACAS.

“Psychological support for people that we provide support for and psychological support for care workers are things that are omitted in funding but actually make up the vast majority of the work that we do.

“None of the money has been ringfenced to assign it to very specific services. That is a problem because then councils will have to make very, very difficult decisions, which are emotionally draining in themselves on where to put the money."

‘Most people leave a care job within the first few weeks’

The NACAS report revealed many care workers don’t feel they get the support they need.

Neil Eastwood, founder of Care Friends, a staff referral app, told the audience at the NACAS event in London: “Most people leave a care job within the first few weeks of employment.”

Martin Green from Care England, which represents independent care providers, said: “Care workers become very physically as well as emotionally drained by the work and also establish relationships with people and when those people die, there is a real price to pay.

“The issue here is about the way in which social care is funded. It’s also about the way in which social care is regarded generally in society, particularly by government.

"People do not realize the complexity of the work. The people that we support are the same people that are supported by the NHS but we do not receive the huge amounts of money for training and support.

He described "very clear evidence of a Department that is supposed to be the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), delivering money to frontline staff in the NHS and delivered money to social care which is at the discretion of local authorities as to how it is spent. The rhetoric is one thing but the practice is another.”

Mr Green told care leaders on 4 September’s Professional Care Workers Day: “I want the £1.5 billion given by the Chancellor for social care to get to the frontline to the people that need it.“

Telling the audience “a nurse is a nurse”, he criticised the government’s “artificial differentiation” between nurses in social care and the NHS. Jane Townson chief executive of UK Home Care Association, highlighted the importance of quality training for staff. She told the audience: “People should have basic standards of training in the sector. We shouldn't just allow any old person to go and set up shop to look after our loved ones”.

Care Minister Caroline Dinenage. Credit: DHSC

Meanwhile, care minister Caroline Dinenage has agreed to launch phase two of the care sector recruitment campaign ‘Everyday is Different, which will run from this autumn to next April.

The DHSC is urging care providers to advertise job vacancies on DWP Find a Job and share their care worker success stories to inspire others to join the care workforce. The campaign will also hold a series of recruitment events.

The Department’s recruitment campaign follows its first phase, which the care minister said saw a 97 per cent rise in searches for care jobs. Some 26 per cent of care bosses surveyed saw a rise in job enquiries, applications, interviews and vacancies filled.

Minister for Care, Caroline Dinenage, said: “The social care sector is crying out for talented care workers with the right values. We must reach out to more people to show them that careers in adult social care can be varied, rewarding and flexible.

“I’m calling on the social care sector to rally together and lend us their support again to bring to life the true rewards of caring and showcase the qualities needed to do the vast range of diverse jobs in care.”