Care staff told to ditch 'dehumanising' term 'service user'

Pensioner Suzanne, aged 78, feels 'trapped' despite receiving care, according to the 360° Social Care debate - a report launched by over 60 care providers, care workers and those receiving care who are calling for the term 'service user' to be scrapped.

Launched at the Residential & Home Care Show at London’s Excel on 18 May, care home and home care providers, charities, recruiters, council staff, families and those needing care produced a ‘white paper’ to stop people like Suzanne feeling isolated.

Care should not be about 'ticking off a list of tasks'

The 78-year-old receives home care but admitted: “I feel trapped in my home.

"Loneliness has become normalised. I feel like I have not seen anyone all day even after the care worker has been.

“Care is more about ticking off a list of tasks than showing empathy or care.”

Roundtable talks took place in March with care providers, people in receipt of care, care workers, charities, recruiters, local authorities and technology providers to get a 360 degree ‘holistic’ view of the issues facing social care and recommend solutions.

Ditch ‘dehumanising’ term ‘service user’

The findings, published in the 360° social care debate's ‘white paper’ report revealed the term ‘service user’ for a person receiving care is ‘dehumanising’, inferring that people are viewed as a commodity. The report suggested that across the social care sector, the term ‘person receiving care’ should be adopted instead.

Former care home manager Mark Topps, (now regional business manager at Essex Cares Ltd) believes the Care Quality Commission (CQC) must take the lead on ditching the term. Mr Topps said: "I have managed services and been told by inspectors to reword the statement of purpose and policies back to 'service user' in line with their guidance."

The CQC guidance states: 'The regulations refer to 'service users' and where we quote the regulation directly we use this phrase. Elsewhere in the guidance we have used the terms 'people who use services' or 'people'.

A CQC spokesman told carehome.co.uk: "We only ever use the term service user when we quote the statutory regulations directly, otherwise we use 'people who use services' or 'people' and encourage others to use these terms as best practice."

The report also raised concerns over the way some working in care talk to clients – ‘like they are ‘stupid’. It recommended all care workers (as a mandatory requirement) are trained in treating people with dementia.

The new report called care ‘a postcode lottery’ with services varying by location and said continuity of care is a challenge with people having different care workers visiting, ‘which is hard for them when they need support with intimate tasks’.

Homecare Association chief: Government can't just 'throw money at NHS'

Contributors to the report stated ‘care needs to stop being task and time orientated and instead be based on growing relationships' to address loneliness. It was felt care technology can help prompt care workers with questions that could be created with input from people’s families.

The report also revealed that in answer to the question: 'Do you have any worries about the future of social care?', 100 per cent of people receiving care said they had.

Challenges for social care raised in the document noted a contrasting response from government, when it came to funding for NHS and social care.

Speaking at the report's launch event at the Residential & Home Care Show, Dr Jane Townson, chief executive of the Homecare Association said just "throwing money at NHS” can’t solve its waiting list issue because an “inability to discharge people back home and access home-based supported care...is reducing the ability of the NHS to admit new people”.

80% of people who receive care & half of care workers don't use care tech

The report stated: ‘AI is going to be the way forward for the sector’ to ‘support improvements in care delivery and pre-emptive care before a person gets worse.’ But they still believed human contact is crucial.

When asked if they are using care technology, 50 per cent of care workers and 80 per cent of people receiving care said they were not.

The report called for regulation ‘to balance the cost of care, profit-making and reinvestment in social care’, caps on agency fees and taking control away from local authorities to give ‘more people the freedom to choose their own care’.

It stated: ‘We need to regulate care costs so that care providers cannot skim unreasonable profits off the top’. The report called for care providers to agree to a new charter, whereby they reinvest a certain percentage of their profits into care and the business.

Care workers say they’re better off leaving jobs to ‘rely totally’ on benefits

When asked if the rising cost of living is affecting them, 100 per cent of care workers and 80 per cent of people receiving care said it is.

With a large majority of the care workforce on low pay and paying higher utility bills, Mark Topps told an audience gathered for the report's launch: ‘“We’ve actually heard from care workers that have actually said they work, they’re on the benefits system and they’re actually finding that they are actually better off to rely totally on the state. That’s not what we want. We don’t want people leaving the sector.”

Calls for 'care sector ambassadors', counselling and compensation

The 360° debate report also recommended ‘care sector ambassadors’ be present in schools, colleges and universities to tackle the care recruitment and retention challenge. It called for standardised pay scales, career progression across NHS and social care, staff bonuses and recognition programmes and mandatory mental health and counselling support for all care workers.

Full sick pay for care workers with Covid to isolate and compensation for staff who lost their jobs due to government policy on mandatory vaccinations was also recommended.

Methodist Homes (MHA), Orchard Care Homes, Sequence Care Group and Unisus care are among the care providers who contributed to the report.

Adam Hutchison, managing director at Belmont Healthcare Group, which also contributed to the report, said: “Everyone is aware the costs of care are rising in the UK. Taking learnings from other countries, exploring pay regulations, investment opportunities and ensuring effective use of care technology to join up care will help.”