Response to recent UK Government announcements affecting social care
The UK Government’s recent announcement in relation to social care visas is another blow to our sector, the people that work in it and the people we work alongside. We’ve been reflecting on some of the narrative used during this and other recent announcements by Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, and Yvette Cooper, and here’s what we think:
At Thistle, we have around 350 social care workers supporting people across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife. These colleagues support people to live in their own homes, to be active citizens and to lead lives of meaning and purpose. We employ people who are on visas and people who are not. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that they care about what they do.
They (and we) see their role as a skilled craft, working alongside people, supporting them to do what matters most to them – to work, volunteer, be a friend, family member, to take part in sports, community events, go out for lunch, dinner. Their role is deeply human. Every day they are supporting people to do many of the things other people might take for granted and this involves developing relationships built on authenticity, trust and mutual respect. It is also complex. Our workers are trained in moving and assisting techniques that support people with impaired mobility; administering medication; strategies to support people who can often be stressed and/or distressed; how to support people who have autism, learning disability, complex epilepsy; and, identifying potential medical emergencies before they happen. Their role can involve working alongside a range professionals and multi-disciplinary teams within the NHS providing vital information to support clinical decision making.
They are defenders of human rights advocating for the rights of the people who can often be excluded and marginalised and they promote the fact that everyone has something to contribute to our society. These ARE skilled roles. So, it’s hugely disappointing that the Prime Minister and other UK government ministers continue to devalue the people who do these jobs and the people they support by feeding a false narrative that social care is not a skilled role. It’s rhetoric like this that makes recruitment into social care so challenging. Champion us. Invest in us. Celebrate the role and contribution our colleagues make and start talking about social care workers as an economic and social asset rather than a problem to be controlled and fixed for political expediency.
