Social Care Bulletin May 2020
Social Care Bulletin May
2020 May 14, 2020
Dear GMB Member,
Social care is in the news every day, the public are now aware of what the GMB has been saying for years that social care is critically underfunded and the current crisis is shining a light on government policies designed to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, which pushed a greater burden onto care homes.
While hospitals were understandably in the spotlight and were given priority by the government, carers were telling GMB that care homes were largely forgotten and were struggling to get access to PPE and tests.
Carers told GMB that your elderly residents were also put at greater risk because hospitals were told to discharge as many non-acute patients as possible from wards, meaning that many elderly were sent back into care homes, even though in some cases GMB members were telling us they believed residents were COVID positive.
Many staff and managers of care homes say they believe the government made a mistake by focusing all their attention on protecting only the NHS, at the expense of care workers and residents, the most vulnerable in society.
GMB regularly receive calls from the media and press asking if GMB members are prepared to talk in confidence about their experiences in social care, so I would like to set up a register of carers we can call at short notice. If you feel strongly that the public needs to know what's really happening in social care and would like to be on the register, please email your contact phone number and where you work to me on michael.ainsley@gmb.org.uk
Do you feel safe at work? Complete the survey before Friday 22 May 2020 https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SC_Mhealth
Visit the GMB coronavirus hub www.gmb.org.uk/coronavirus
Not a GMB Member? Join today at www.gmb.org.uk/join
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