Maureen Lavery

“I have worked in social care for 30 years, and we have never been respected by any other area that cares for people whether it be hospital district nurses doctors etc.

We are told when we can have holidays, we pay for our own car’s maintenance – we have just started to receive 30p a mile petrol.

My rota runs as follows: (not true names) Mrs jones 8 to 8.30 Mrs smith 8.30 to 9.30 but it takes 10 min to get there so the actual time is 8.40 to 9.40 but it should be at Mildred at 9.30 but don’t get there till 9.50 to 10.20 but I should be at molly at 10 but don’t get there till 10.30 to 11.30 this goes on until you have worked between 1 hour to 1and 1/2 hr a day for nothing totalling up to 7and half hours a week for nothing, that’s if you work part-time the girls/gents working full time loose much more, you don’t get a chance for drink or food.

I love my job that’s why I’m still here 30 years on, but the job is becoming harder to do not because of the job we do it’s the cost it cost us to do it. We do online training we have to do in our own time this can take hrs to do but it’s your own time you’re doing it.

I feel in times to come we will have no one doing this job as it cost us carers to do the job. It’s not a job a single person can do – as you could not survive on the wage and more so over the past few years.”