It ’ s time to value our care workers

If there was just one point that Mandy Buckley could convince her employer of, it would be to value care workers properly. “I’ve been a care worker for 17 years now,” she says. Mandy is part of Birmingham City Council’s enablement team – a dedicated, qualified and experienced group that is “the first port of call when somebody comes out of hospital”. Patients are first assessed in hospital before being discharged. Then the enablement team takes up the baton. Initially, the team works with the discharged person for up to six weeks as a care provider, all the while continuing to assess what sort of care package they require in the longer term. “Some are kept on longer: 12 weeks, 14 weeks, according to the needs of each client,” Mandy adds. Team members deal with medication, hydration, nutrition and much more. Mandy says that in some ways, they’re “like district nurses”, Mandy says. For instance, they administer medication and check for pressure sores. Some clients have a physical disability, some have dementia. In many cases there are multiple and complex issues. But not only do Mandy and her colleagues help someone to deal with these sort of conditions, and provide ‘personal care’ – helping people wash and dress, for instance – they also provide “company and contact”, not least for those “people who never see anyone”. And on occasion, team members also find themselves helping people with bereavement. Not all their clients are elderly...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: Article adult social care Birmingham care workers local government Source Type: news