Home carers from across the country have been given a voice thanks to the organisation Homecare Voices.
Home carers provide support to enable disabled and vulnerable people to remain in their homes.
From providing personal care, cooking, shopping, cleaning and companionship on a private basis, and also under the instruction of social services across the country who have identified needs when completing care assessments.
Sadly, home carers have found themselves underpaid.
Most, who are only paid national minimum wages, face abuse and violence whilst supporting their clients.
The not-for-profit organisation wants to encourage the government to ensure carers are paid within the law.
Currently, home carers only receive a wage for the time spent with clients and not for travelling to each client, and a lot are not being paid for training that care businesses want them to undertake.
Local authorities can spend over £17,000 per week for home care consisting of thirty minutes, four times per day.
Wages paid to home care providers don’t coincide with what carers who undertake the visits then get paid.
Due to the poor pay, there is a shortage of home carers, many being recruited from other countries, which is the only means to ensure home care needs are met.
Homecare Voices is a peer support not-for-profit that brings carers together.
It enables home carers to have the knowledge as to what they are legally entitled to financially receive, what employers’ legal obligations to them are, and how to claim unpaid wages as well as support.
Carers can join, for free, by visiting their website www.homecarewg.org