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Home care - non payment of national minimum wage

Rochelle Monte 15/12/13 Dignity Champions forum

This week Islington and Southwark councils have signed up to the Ethical care charter , which is wonderful news and should directly impact on the quality of care people receive within these areas. By agreeing to the terms of the charter they both will no longer commission services of less than 30 minutes and only commission to providers who offer contracted hours and pay travel time to staff.
Non payment of the NMW is rife within the home care sector as LA's fail to account for travel time and so providers only pay staff for contact time. This has a huge effect on the quality of care currently being provided. As more and more LA's commission 15/20 minutes calls they are denying people dignified , safe , quality care. As without accounting for travel staff have to effectively 'steal' time from those receiving care ( its impossible to be in 2 places at once) this in turn means that a 15/20 minute call could be as little as 5/10 minutes.
This year there has been much publicity surrounding homecare services yet change seems slow to come. I have put myself on the line for this fight and could easily have seen myself zeroed down. But my main aim has always been to ensure dignified, quality care that people can trust and depend on. Until the terms and conditions of employment for homecare staff improve and care is seen as a career with prospects things will never change. UNISON are currently running a pay up for travel time campaign , I have decided to take part and fight for paid travel. Until homecare staff across the country come together and challenge this problem how can we ever make change? So I would like to encourage those in my position to also take part , only by standing together can we really push for change. Thank you Rochelle

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Jan Burns 15/12/13

Well done to Islington and Southwark for signing up to the Ethical care charter. Anything that can improve the quality of care provision has to be a positive move - I do wish you all the best with your campaign to take action to create positive changes Rochelle. Why don't you post this on the Dignity in Action Facebook page?


Kevin Mcguinness 23/05/14

I do hope this action filters down to other local authorities .Far to many companies are making huge profits by providing inadequate care .

mike stone 23/05/14

Well done Rochelle - good news, and I've noticed you are 'fighting the good fight' on these issues !

Rochelle Monte 23/05/14

Thank you Mike, the timing of your reply was a fantastic boost as today I can honestly say the pressure was starting to show! I was lucky enough to be given a voice, something many providing and receiving care have been denied for so long. I cant deny that putting myself on the line hasn't been stressful, but I would honestly do it all again if I had to. I just hope that someone listens and addresses the issues that are denying many dignified respectful care,
Rochelle

mike stone 24/05/14

Very kind of you to value my support, Rochelle (I can't do your survey, as I'm not carehome staff - actually, I'm not staff anywhere).

I think that you are enormously brave, because you are 'complaining from inside the system' - that often results in horrendous 'bullying'. I've never been in that situation, so I'm not actually sure if I would be brave enough to do it or not.

However, I have, from 'outside the sytem' and since 2009, been waging what sometimes felt like almost a one-man campaign, to change systemic behaviour for end-of-life at home. I'm still 'pretty isolated' on this, but there are 'glimmers of hope' which raise my spirits (I'm encouraged at the moment, by some recent interactions with the Care Quality Commission, who do seem to honestly want to make a difference).

But I do attract a surprising amount of 'abuse', most frequently based on 'you are not a professional, so you can't possibly know what you are talking about - so KEEP YOUR NOSE OUT !'. It does get tiresome: it isn't being 'abused' that bothers me, it is that so many people inside the system, refuse to engage in a debate about whether things might be wrong.

But I'm old and a bit mad (using 'mad' in at least two senses there), and perhaps somewhat self-destructive, and despite possibly agreeing with a friend, who told me 'if you would concentrate on something else, you might be happier', I'm so far 'keeping at it'. It must be worse, if you are young and fairly junior and also complaining from within the system, and my admiration for anyone who is raising concerns from that situation, is IMMENSE !

Best wishes, Mike

Liz Taylor 26/05/14

Maybe we all need to be a bit 'mad' at times when that results in the passionate approach to making things change that has been witnessed in these discussions. We all need to keep the faith and need the support of others when things get tough and the abuse starts to fly. The Champions network provides that support in all sorts of ways and means that those of us who care have the opportunity to share our thoughts, feelings and passions, and that way change things. as was once said to me when I was down, if you don't think you have the capacity to make a difference ask a mosquito. Hang in there people.