Whenever senior people in the social care sector gather together, one of the first topics of conversation is always the problem of recruiting and retaining staff.
When it comes to staying in the sector, money is certainly an important factor for social care professionals. You’re never going to get rich, or even be comfortably off, if you work in the social care sector. But it can’t be all about money. For example, a social care employer in London recently advertised for two jobs; one in administration and one as a support worker. Even though the job as a support worker was better paid, it attracted far fewer applications.
Part of the problem of recruitment and retainment in the social care sector must be caused by the perceived image of support workers. Let’s face it, the only time support or care workers appear in the news is when there is an exposé of wrongdoing on the television, or when mugshots of the miscreants appear in newspapers.
When was the last time a care worker appeared in the media, and they were simply doing their job? It is, of course, a good thing that these instances of wrongdoing are exposed, but surely there should be some positive images of support workers to balance out all of the negative ones? Other people who work in the social care or health sectors do, occasionally, appear on the news because of their misdemeanours, but negative images of negligent doctors or uncaring nurses are easily outweighed by more positive images of these professions.
When there is an exposé of wrongdoing in the care sector, the programme will often end with a postscript, stating that the people don’t represent the vast majority of care workers who do their job in a caring and conscientious fashion. The problem is, you never actually see these people on television or in the newspapers.
Care work might not be considered as “sexy” a profession as working as a doctor or a nurse, so it is less likely to be the subject of a major drama. But wouldn’t you expect to see care workers in soap operas intended to represent ordinary lives in ordinary neighbourhoods? Why do we never see care workers in Coronation Street or any other television programme, apart from Panorama? It can’t be down to their numbers. Recent surveys suggest there are more than 1.5 million care workers in the UK, which means they outnumber that staple of programme makers – nurses – by a ratio of around five to one.
Someone I know who works in TV said that although care workers make up a substantial proportion of the UK workforce, the kind of people who work in TV are unlikely to have friends and families who work in the sector – hence their invisibility in the media.
So, come on all you programme makers out there. You may not know anything about us, and we may not be as glamorous as doctors and nurses, but you could occasionally feature us in your dramas and soaps. I wouldn’t expect care workers to be portrayed as mavericks, heroes or angels, but it would be nice to be occasionally shown as normal people, doing what can be a difficult job in a caring and conscientious manner.
The Social Life Blog is written by people who work in or use social care services. If you’d like to write an article for the series, email socialcare@theguardian.com with your ideas.
Join the Social Care Network to read more pieces like this. Follow us on Twitter (@GdnSocialCare) and like us on Facebook to keep up with the latest social care news and views.
.jpg?w=600)
