The Banality Of Evil
If you happen to be reading this and in any way shape or form are thinking about becoming a carer, whether that’s for a loved one or you are looking for work, a way to earn a bit of extra cash, or even if you have a burning desire to help people and believe dementia care is your calling,
please please please think long and hard before committing to care for anybody, the job is often thankless and can push you to your limits. These words you probably won't hear when talking to the people that look after your loved ones or see when you read the Blogs about Dementia day care or the pamphlets calling for new carers whilst listing all the attributes you tell your self you have every morning.
The reason i write this is because i read an article today in the Guardian about a care agency that were billing people for 45 mins care an only providing them with an average of 9 minutes care. In some cases carers were in the house for only 3 minutes.
What was I reading, I was disgusted, At first reading this i was outraged, I couldn’t believe what i was reading. How dare they, don’t they know how vulnerable these people are, how dependant they are, how could you possibly provide any form of care in 3 minutes. you cant even make a cup of tea in 3 minutes, let alone talk, make food, a drink, perform mobility and any hygiene related tasks. These people should be hung drawn and quartered. Outraged !
Over the course of the day my temperature lessened, still incensed i started to ask the question why and how's has this happened? Is this the system or the individual carers, has the banality of evil reared its ugly head in dementia care. Or has it always been there?
"In the first six months of 2022, 3.3m hours of home care was not delivered to people who needed it in England because of staff shortages, Many domiciliary care workers are likely to be receiving illegally low pay, with typical wages of £9.20 an hour – below the adult minimum wage – when unpaid travel time between care visits is deducted, according to research by the Resolution Foundation. The Homecare Association is warning that councils may shorten care visits from the current norm of 30 minutes to 15 minutes, which is “stressful, risks quality, and is less efficient”. Almost half of home care staff work under zero-hours contracts."
This is according to the Association of Directors for Aldut Education.
After reading this i was left with that awkard feeling in my stomach, sympathy and rage both occupying my thoughts. In the end the only conclusion i could come to was that we all need to do better! From the ground up, when we are entrusted with peoples lives, we have a duty of care to that person no matter the extrinsic circumstances.
Care is a job but it's not stacking shelves you have to be able to empathise, feel, be trustworthy, be compassionate, attentive and patient. Even when you are not motivated to be and that's the very least!
At trusted local care we are advocates of domiciliary care, we understand the challenges of dementia care wether it's home, hospital or a care center.
but we have to hold everybody to the same standards across the board, whether thats more regulation or just better education.
If we all act surely something has to change.
