THERE is a social care crisis in Wales, for those who require care and for the many thousands of social care workers.

The pandemic has highlighted that some care workers struggle on exploitative contracts and are hampered by the system from delivering the best and most sustainable care they can for their clients.
 
We must do better than this and that’s why my union, Unison Cymru Wales, will be working hard to promote the creation of an ambitious national care service at the Welsh Labour Party conference this weekend.
 
We commend Welsh Labour for its lead in this area and we’ll be seeking to persuade them to go much further and faster and end the commissioning model which has benefited only private profit. We’ll be asking delegates to back our motion for a service that places client-centred care and the care workforce at its heart and is free at the point of need.
 
Clapping on doorsteps was never going to be enough reward for very low paid care workers. A high number of the mainly female workforce suffers in-work poverty.

Despite the initial lack of adequate personal protective equipment and testing when the pandemic first hit, these workers provided essential care for our loved ones when we sheltered in safety, putting themselves at risk. Some paid the ultimate cost with the loss of life.
 
Welsh government has estimated that Wales will need a further 20,000 care workers by 2030 just to meet the current need. Care work needs to be recognised as the skilled profession that it is.

Unison is campaigning for an all-Wales sector-level collective bargaining to set fair wages and a standard employment contract governing sick pay, contracted hours and pay for all hours on duty, including “sleep ins,” travel time, time off, as well as a national framework for training and development.
 
Getting to the root of the problems of the sector requires a thorough analysis of funding. Care services have never been adequately funded, but Westminster-driven austerity left Welsh government and local authorities with a funding shortage that has impacted on services and delivery models.

Many Welsh councils’ drive to outsource services has been based on cost and not the best service provision for service users and or staff.
 
The commissioning model has directly led to cutting corners in the name of profit. Some of the worst examples include staff being forced to rush client care when allocated too many clients and many care workers are not paid for travel time between client appointments, despite this being working time.

As a result, vulnerable people in need of care often receive less than the allocated 30 minutes and this impacts on the dignity and mental health of the care recipient and the worker.
 
A National Care Service would set industry standards, ensure consistency in the quantity and quality of social care across Wales. It could provide a framework for monitoring and scrutiny and help to more closely integrate social care with health care. It will address the fragmented system of care provision.
 
Unison is committed to campaigning for social care to be delivered by public bodies by a workforce which is valued and within the public sector. Care should not be outsourced.

Creating statutory minimum standards for care, professional development and employment would organically return social care to where it should be: under local government’s direct control.
 
There should be no place for profit in the care of our most vulnerable.
 
The momentum is building for a national care service and it is essential we take this opportunity to get things right and be bolder in outlook. Wales needs a national care service with parity of esteem to the NHS and concerted investment.

The experiment of mainly private and “voluntary” sector delivery of care has failed and the commissioning model can only be seen as wasteful and inefficient.

The public sector has the power to shape, fund, direct and deliver, scrutinise and monitor a care service fit for the modern era. We are calling on all delegates to Welsh Labour conference to support the Unison Cymru Wales motion.

Karen Loughlin is Unison Cymru Wales regional secretary.