UNISON Cymru Wales is campaigning for a National Care Service as the best way to lift care workers out of in-work poverty forever, and improve the quality of care, service users receive.
Service users and care workers are being dreadfully let down by the current system of commissioning, outsourcing and the need to turn a profit, and years of underfunding.
In-work poverty is commonplace, staff turnover is high and vacancies, huge. The requirement to create a profit or, for the third sector, to compete with for-profit providers, means corners are cut, so care workers are allocated too many service users and are not paid travel time and this impacts on service user care.
The system is the barrier preventing care workers from delivering the level of care they wish for each of their service users. Care workers and service users should not be placed in this appalling situation.
If you are a care worker and want to join UNISON, click here.
Read our article for the Bevan Foundation about why a National Care Service would take pressure off the NHS.
We’ve been busy trying to drive the agenda for a National Care Service.
In November 2022, we published a report A National Care Service for Wales, we’d commissioned from APSE. It showed the crisis in social care can never be resolved if services continue to be provided by the private sector.
UNISON Cymru Wales care workers at the launch with Sarah Murphy MS. Photo credit: Natasha Hirst
In March 2023, the Welsh Labour conference passed a UNISON Cymru Wales Labour Link motion on social care. Read the motion here.
In June this year, UNISON Cymru Wales will be taking a motion on social care to our UNISON UK AGM, known as National Delegate Conference. Read the motion here.
Further reference
Read UNISON Cymru Wales’ position paper, Wales needs a National Care Service, February 2022
You can read UNISON Cymru Wales responses to Social Care Wales 2023 consultations on our Policy Unit page. Click here.