15 January 2023 , 19:00
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Fair pay campaigners tonight demand a wage hike for carers in a bid to ease the NHS crisis.
Experts believe boosting the wallets of hundreds of thousands of care workers could tempt them to stay in the sector - and lure in new staff.
Analysts estimate there are 165,000 vacancies for carers, alongside 132,000 in the health service.
Strains on social care mean thousands of hospital patients who have recovered and are well enough to leave remain stranded in the NHS.
The Living Wage Foundation said lifting pay for carers could bolster the sector and allow more patients to leave hospital - freeing up space for new admissions, clearing hospital waiting times and cutting ambulance delays.
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Writing exclusively for the Mirror, Real Living Wage campaigner Rachel Flint says tonight: “It’s time to get to the root of the crisis in the NHS.
Real Living Wage campaigner Rachel Flint writes exclusively for the Mirror“The Government must fix our broken health and social care system and pay care workers the Real Living Wage they deserve.
“Carers – as the pandemic showed all too clearly – do one of the most vital jobs in our society. “Yet social care remains one of our country’s lowest-paying sectors, with more than half of England’s 1.62 million care workers earning below the Real Living Wage.
“The sector is so low paid, people don’t – or can’t – stay.”
Tens of thousands of carers are paid just the legal minimum: £9.50 an hour for workers aged 23 and over, £9.18 for staff aged 21 and 22 and just £6.83 for employees aged 18 to 20.
In contrast, the Real Living Wage, set by the Living Wage Foundation, is £10.90 an hour, rising to £11.95 in London, and it does not differ by age.
The Mirror is campaigning for Fair Care For All - and our demands include care workers receiving the Real Living Wage.
Living Wage Foundation director Katherine Chapman said: “Care workers play a vital role in our society, yet social care remains one of the lowest paying sectors in the UK.
Living Wage Foundation director, Katherine Chapman“With inflation in double digits and the winter barely begun, it cannot be right that hundreds of thousands of people who put their own lives at risk to look after our loved ones during the pandemic face skipping meals, debt and stress because they are paid less than the Real Living Wage.
"With 90% of Living Wage employers reporting benefits such as improved recruitment and retention, it’s clear that paying carers a wage based on the cost of living is an essential step towards addressing the shortfall of staff in the sector.
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“Adequate funding must be provided to deliver the security and stability of a Real Living Wage for care workers when they need it most.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We value the huge contribution care workers make and are promoting careers in care with a domestic recruitment campaign, a £15million investment in international recruitment and we have made care workers eligible for the Health and Care Visa to boost staffing.
“Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their terms and conditions independent of central government.
“The national living wage was increased in April 2022 and will increase again in 2023.”
Real Living Wage campaigner Rachel Flint, who relies on carers as she has cerebral palsy, writes exclusively for the Mirror
It's time to get to the root of the crisis in the NHS.
The Government must fix our broken health and social care system and pay care workers the Real Living Wage they deserve.
Carers – as the pandemic showed all too clearly – do one of the most vital jobs in our society. Yet social care remains one of our country’s lowest-paying sectors, more than half of England’s 1.62 million care workers earning below the Real Living Wage.
The sector is so low paid, people don’t – or can’t – stay.
Nearly half a million people left care between 2021 and 2022.
If workers struggled to stay in the years inflation was manageable, how can we expect them to cope now that rate has hit double-digits?
The NHS is mired in crisis (PA)As someone who relies on full-time care, I’ve long been affected by the low pay of my carers. My carers wash me, they dress me, they see my nakedness and then, unable to make ends meet on the lowest wages it’s legal to pay, they leave.
It’s a constant upending of dignity.
With patients set to receive treatment in car parks for lack of beds, it's clear the NHS is suffering from the low pay of care workers too.
Record staff shortages fuelled by low pay have left social care unable to absorb tens of thousands of patients who are healthy enough to be discharged from hospitals but need further support before going home.
The director of the Royal College of Nursing Patricia Marquis is clear that the pressure on the NHS will not be eased until care workers are paid “fairly and appropriately”.
Patricia Marquis is the Royal College of Nursing's director for EnglandUnless government releases the funding for local authorities to pay care workers at least a Real Living Wage, the NHS’s woes will only deepen.
We can’t go on like this.
I’ve bumped into a former carer working in a supermarket because the wages were better than they were in care.
I’d love to ask Rishi Sunak: “Can you imagine it? Saying ‘Hi’ to someone who has washed you – someone who has dressed you – scanning your groceries behind a till?’”
What’s happening to the health service shows that we all rely on social care, whether we are in the sector or not.
It’s vital that government recognises the importance of care work; not with words, not with claps - with a Real Living Wage.
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