Janet Wyer, UNISON Pembrokeshire branch secretary
Responding to the news that Pembrokeshire County Council is to bring care services undertaken by troubled Allied Healthcare in-house, UNISON branch secretary Janet Wyer said,
“The council deserves praise for acting swiftly to offer reassurance to vulnerable residents in Pembrokeshire and the care workforce.
“When services are run directly by councils there is much greater certainty about the quality and level of professionalism the public can expect. There is democratic control and the council can intervene to positively shape the lives of their citizens.
“Private care companies are always motivated first by profit rather than what is best for individuals and their families and the care workforce. Wages and employment conditions for carers are squeezed and they often suffer in-work poverty. This is not the world we want to live in.
“We have a population that is living longer and our UK and Welsh governments need to wake-up to the fact that we have a crisis in care provision. We need an end to brutal austerity spending cuts and much more significant investment in care services and care workers.”
UNISON has developed an Ethical Care Charter which ensures not only dignity of care for patients but fair and decent employment standards for care staff. The trade union is asking all councils in Wales to adopt the Charter.
Notes for editors
UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter calls for:
- Length of visits to be matched to the needs of clients; 15 minute visits undermine the dignity of clients
- Visits to be scheduled so that homecare workers are not forced to rush their time with clients or leave their clients early to get to the next visit on time
- Pay homecare workers the Living Wage and for the time they spend travelling between clients
- An end to zero hours contracts for homecare workers
Contact
Alastair Gittins, UNISON Press Officer on 07816 53 83 97