Care workers owed up to six years’ back pay after being paid below the minimum wage will have to wait until October for the money they are owed after a government announcement today
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Commenting on the government’s announcement of additional support for social care providers, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “This announcement is a huge blow for low-paid workers. Each year, care workers are collectively cheated of £130m in wages, but this outrageous state of affairs has failed to prompt any meaningful reaction from the government. “Now ministers see […]
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dave prentis Sleep-in payments social care
Charities and care companies that have paid staff one-off payments for overnight sleep-ins should not be exempt from paying the national minimum wage, says UNISON. Claims for back pay could cost the sector £400m according to Mencap. UNISON believes care workers should be paid at least the minimum wage for work they have already done […]
Elderly and vulnerable people in residential care homes are being left in re-used continence pads, denied trips to the toilet and kept indoors for days on end because of severe staff shortages, according to a survey published today (Sunday) by UNISON. The vast majority (83 per cent) of care workers say they are so rushed […]
Posted on by Rosa Ellis
General election 2017: Social care
With just a few days to the election UNISON looks at what the main parties have to say on social care – one of the issues that matter most to our members
Commenting on the social care announcement that is part of the wider Conservative manifesto launch, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Today’s social care announcement reveals what Theresa May’s Britain would be like. It threatens a further demolition of the welfare state, which would leave all but the very poorest forced to cough up for […]
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dave prentis social care
Commenting on the report published today (Friday) by the Health Select Committee into the impact of Brexit upon health and social care in the UK, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The Brexit vote has plunged the NHS and social care into deeply uncertain times. The government’s reluctance to grant EU nationals working in our […]
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dave prentis NHS social care
Social workers are struggling with heavy caseloads, working longer hours and going without lunch breaks, according to a survey by UNISON and Community Care magazine. Nearly half (48%) of respondents said the volume of cases they were responsible for left them feeling ‘over the limit,’ and more than half (56%) blamed staff shortages for their […]
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heather wakefield local government social care
Commenting on the Spring Budget today (Wednesday) UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: On pay “For almost a decade nurses, teaching assistants, town hall staff and others in the public sector have had their wages frozen or been given minuscule pay rises. “These are the people keeping the NHS, schools and local communities afloat in […]
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budget dave prentis NHS pay social care
Research reveals the pressure on councils
The data on homecare for over 65s
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homecare local government save care now social care
The government should be using the growing surplus of centrally-collected business rates to ease the pressure on councils, not encouraging them to shift the care burden onto hard pressed local taxpayers and create an unfair postcode lottery of care.
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social care
Responding to today’s (Thursday) announcement by the government on social care funding, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Government cuts to council budgets helped cause the crisis in social care. Yet rather than own up and take responsibility, ministers are simply passing the buck to local councils. “Social care needs a substantial injection of new […]
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local government social care
Posted on by Dave Prentis
Our social care services are facing a daily crisis – the government must fund them properly
As long as social care is so cruelly underfunded, problems will persist and will only be exacerbated by an ageing population. That means real and lasting impacts for the care worker and the cared for.
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social care
New NHS plans for health and care services are doomed unless the government invests more cash and listens to staff and patients, says UNISON. The details of nearly all 44 NHS sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) have now been published. But the government and NHS England have failed to consult properly with the public and […]