Pay carers same as NHS workers, Wales commissioner says

Carers need to be paid the same as those doing similar jobs in the NHS to ensure social care is sustainable, says Wales' older people's commissioner.

Helena Herklots also said terms and conditions needed to improve quickly to attract more people to the profession.

She has called for the Welsh and UK governments to invest in social care.

The Welsh government said it was "committed to improving working conditions and making it a more attractive career".

In November 2020, friends raised concerns about Robert Lumber, 74, as they had not seen him for a few days. Police found him unresponsive when they broke into his home.

He did not know he had Covid or what had happened until he woke up a month later in Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

Staff explained what had happened and told him that his house key was still with police in nearby Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf.

Following a lengthy stay in hospital he moved to Troedyrhiw Care Home in Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, as he was not well enough to return home.

He said he felt "100% better" and praised the care he receives.

"I'd probably end up like I was before, not looking after myself the way I should have been," he said.

He said he feels "more contented" living in the home where he enjoys the activities and games they play. He said he did not intend to move and said "it's nice having people about".

One of his carers, Emma Rosser, who has worked at the home for more than six years, described it as rewarding but challenging at times.

She said carers were not as appreciated as NHS staff and that they should be paid the same as those doing similar jobs in the health service.

"We've got more responsibilities than people who do the same job in the NHS," she said.

"They've got nurses that give out their medication, [whereas] we do it ourselves and that can include controlled drugs, it has to be done by two people and there's a lot of protocol around giving out controlled drugs.

"We do palliative care, where in hospitals it's all done by nurses. It's all a bit unfair to be honest."

The older people's commissioner agreed.

She said investment in social care as well as a longer term vision of a national care service was important but that improvement could not wait for that to be realised.

"Right now older people are suffering, unpaid carers are suffering, so we have to attend to the immediate and that is doing all we can to make sure the workforce is sustained and supported," she said.

She said that meant an increase in pay.

"It's good that the real living wage is being paid, but it cannot be the case that if you work in social care and you're doing something that is pretty much the same as a role in the health service that you're paid less.

"We have to get parity quickly, we have to get terms and conditions improved and we have to do all we can across society to encourage people to work in something that is a fantastic profession."

Ms Herklots said that investment was needed from both the UK and Welsh governments.

"For 20 years or more UK governments have failed to reform or invest in social care and that's made it much more difficult for us here in Wales to have the resourcing to do what needs to be done here," she said.

Social care is vital to support people while they wait for NHS services and it is also vital to ensure people can leave hospital as promptly as possible.

About £874m will be spent by Welsh councils on social services for those aged 65 in 2023/24 - 13 per cent more than last year.

Pressure on the sector will increase as the number of older people living with severe dementia is expected to increase to 53,700 by 2040, double the number compared with 2020, according to a report by Wales Fiscal Analysis.

Informal care provided by friends and family is the largest source of adult care provision and the replacement cost is estimated at £8bn - a similar amount to the annual NHS budget.

The Welsh government said: "We recognise the incredible role care workers play and are committed to improving working conditions and making it a more attractive career.

"We've invested £70m to ensure all social care workers continue to get paid at least the real living wage and the significant increase in the 2023-24 local government settlement shows our commitment to meeting the pressures in social care.

"We are taking steps to professionalise the sector, improve the status of social care and create more career progression opportunities."

Adult social care is devolved and the UK government said it had a "significant reform programme" for England involving hundreds of millions of pounds with the workforce "at its heart".