The ongoing crisis in the UK’s care system is leading to vulnerable and disabled people going without proper meals and not being washed because home care workers are too rushed to do their job properly, a new study reveals.
Most care workers have just 15 minutes to help people eat, drink or have a shower, research by Unison found.
The union’s survey of 1,000 workers showed that three out of four feared they were compromising the dignity of those in their care because they were pressured to fit in too many visits.
Nine out of 10 of those questioned said they did not have time to chat, even though the person they looked after may not see anyone else that day.
Just over half of the care workers were on zero-hours contracts and almost two in three said they were not paid for the time they spent travelling between visits.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Care workers and those they look after are suffering because standards are routinely being breached.
The research found just over half of the care workers were on zero-hours contracts (Yui Mok/PA)
“Care staff try to do their best within a system that increasingly prioritises quotas over compassion. Elderly and disabled people are ending up lonely, without dignity and with their care needs unmet.
“Care workers and the vulnerable people they look after will continue to be failed by a flawed system unless the Government acts.”
Unison is campaigning for Government action against care companies failing to pay the minimum wage.