Opinion: Underappreciated and underpaid - why are we treating care workers so poorly?

Treat care workers like robots and we all suffer.
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Oscar Wilde once had one of his characters quip: “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

How about a carer in a nursing home? Price – many are either on, or close to, the minimum wage. Value? Anyone who has known a carer will know the job they do is profoundly valuable.

They work until their joints hurt for very little money.

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They feed, bathe, reassure, give medication to and protect some of the most vulnerable people.

Many of us have loved ones who depend on these hardworking, dedicated people.

And many of us will, one day, be cared for in that way.

How disgusting, then, that these people who pursue such a worthwhile vocation are paid so little and worked so hard.

Terrible working conditions and low pay among care workers has been cited nationally as one of the reasons the profession is so short on staff.

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Speak to anyone who works, or has worked, in care and you will likely hear stories of burnout, stressful conditions and a feeling of being treated like nothing more than a source of revenue.

And while we might hear accounts of some carers more interested in checking their phones or having little patience with their patients - it's clear that these people are in a tiny minority.

Very few people with any sense would continue to do such a grueling job for so little if they didn't have a genuine wish to help others - there are easier ways to earn minimum wage.

The irony is that some cynical care companies which are so happy to treat their staff with such little respect and dignity are increasingly having to rely on costly agency staff to fill the gaps they have created.

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But we can't accuse care companies alone for being part of this predicament.

An analysis published in the Financial Times earlier this month highlights the damage being done by falling government spending on adult social care.

Private care home companies, attempting to turn a profit, are increasingly having to increase fees for some residents in an attempt to subsidise the costs of taking in state-funded residents.

For the last 30 years our government has maintained a policy of putting state-funded care of elderly people out for sale.

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While the government continues to underfund these services, and while experts have cause to raise concerns over the ways some of these private care companies manage their finances - our friends, relatives and our future selves will suffer.