Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls

Episode
Episode Two
Broadcast Info
2021 (59 mins)
Description
Following the recent Government announcement about increased funding for social care, Ed takes an immersive journey to the frontline of care to see what the biggest challenges are. He spent time living and working in St Cecilia’s care homes, but with many millions more people being looked after in their own homes, Ed now turns his attention to domiciliary care. Ed starts by visiting Caring Connections, a charity which provides care to about 100 clients across Liverpool. He spends a day shadowing carer John Finnigan, and soon realises that working in people’s homes is very different to working in a care home. Carers work on their own with no way of knowing what they are walking into (CPR training is standard and often required). Their clients have complex needs and often have no-one else in their lives to rely on, even for company. While on his rounds with John, Ed meets James O’Brian who, aged only 50, is bedridden with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. James sees no-one but the carers, who turn up four times a day - without them he would be unable to survive. The carers themselves get paid £9.30 per hour and a small allowance for travel time. Paul Growney of Caring Connections explains how they operate on a knife-edge due to the lack of funding. Looking for answers, Ed meets Stephen Chandler president of ADASS, which represents all social care bosses of local authorities across the country. Stephen explains that local authorities have suffered huge cuts to care spending in the last decade - around £8 billion cumulatively - while having a legal responsibility to balance their books. It’s not that they don’t want to provide care, but they need to make the money go as far as possible. Stephen tells Ed he thinks that as a society we need to start valuing social care in the same way we do the NHS or education. Wondering how the financials work in a care home, Ed heads back to St Cecilia’s. There he talks to medical lead Simon who is helping resident Betty with her physio. Simon explains that they receive less money from the local authority for Betty than it costs them to keep her. The same is true of Frank, whose one-on-one care payments have ceased but who is still being watched over by Alison. Ed spends some time talking to Frank, who is more alert than he has ever seen him. Ed reflects that the extra attention is valuable not only to stop him falling out of bed but also for his emotional and mental wellbeing. Heading back into the world of domiciliary care, Ed is keen to meet some unpaid carers. There are at least 6.5 million people across the country who look after a loved one for nothing - Ed’s father looked after his Mum for ten years before she went into a home - and they save the Government billions every year. He spends the day with Derek who, at 71, cares for his wife Margaret who has dementia. Derek does everything for Margaret, washing and dressing her, cooking and feeding her - and it’s a 24-hour job 7 days a week. Derek tells Ed he has been left hugely frustrated dealing with a system that has not helped him, where he’s had to find out everything for himself. Ed then meets Shahid, who comes from Rochdale and who looked after his mum in her old age. Shahid discovered that there was a real stigma in his Muslim community surrounding dementia and there were barriers to asking for help or using residential care. Shahid struggled until his mother passed away, but now he wants to change things. He takes Ed to Friday prayers at his local mosque - Shahid has been working with the Imam and together they listen to the Imam preach about dementia, trying to generate awareness and understanding. Afterwards a small crowd gather to discuss the issue and one man points out that even if they were to ask for help the services available are not culturally suitable - what care homes play the right music or offer halal food? Back at St Cecilia’s Ed visits Frank again. Despite Alison’s attention his condition is deteriorating and she says she is now administering end-of-life care. This leads Ed to consider his own future and he talks to his wife, MP Yvette Cooper, about their future care plans. It is just two weeks later that Ed gets the sad news - Frank passed away in the night. It was peaceful, with niece Jenny by his side.
Genre
Medicine; Social Work; Health & Social Care; Mental Health

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/240522 (Accessed 08 Jan 2025)