No doubt many of you saw or heard about the Care in the Home Panorama programme last Thursday (9th April) - The investigation, which included undercover filming of three homecare providers, showed hard-hitting evidence of neglect and a general overwhelming lack of care provided by care agencies looking after the elderly in their own home.
The programme showed carers rushing between appointments, with some being missed entirely; it showed lack of training given to carers, out-of-date or missing care plans; and a shocking lack of dignity given to the elderly clients due to impossible schedules for the minimum-waged carers.
In short, it showed care companies short-changing the elderly who rely on home visits for their basic care.
Ok, so this time, the programme was about care in the home, not care in a care home, but the overall issues remain the same - councils and private care companies cutting costs at the expense of care quality, and low pay for care workers. With the concept of personal care budgets high on the agenda, will care companies be battling to give the highest service or battling to make the highest profit? And will individual care users be able to afford to shop around?
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