- Conference
- 2019 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 23 October 2018
- Decision
- Carried
CAMPAIGNING FOR SAFETY WITHIN THE SOCIAL CARE WORKFORCE
Conference notes that women make up over 3/4 of the Health and Social Care Workforce, with an even larger proportion of women directly delivering care to service users within a home care environment.
The experiences of nurses and care workers who provide health and social care at home have focused very much on the scandals of low pay, not enough time to do the job and other operational aspects of the role. Whilst this campaigning work is vital, it is important not to miss out on the other ways that women can be put at risk whilst carrying out caring roles.
Conference believes that women providing care, in the home environment are at risk of not only physical and verbal assault but also sexual assault. As employers try and cut the costs of providing services, workers safety can be put at risk by reducing staffing levels or not fully risk assessing service user homes.
Conference further notes that employers have a duty of care to support staff who are providing these services. Violence has a major impact on whether someone is able to attend work.
Conference recognises that closer working between health and social care should mean that it should be easier to share information about service users between agencies and believe that appropriate data sharing agreements should be prioritised in order to promote safety of this female workforce.
Conference calls on the National Women’s Committee to work with Regional Women’s Groups to produce campaign materials for members who work in home based care on personal safety, the importance of risk assessments and how to say no to managers who ask staff to compromise their safety