An observation rather than a direct reply to you.
Last time I looked carers (all respect to them, my daughter is a carer) didn't need a degree to ply their profession as nurses do. These Grade 7s being discussed are expected to have shit loads of experience and a Masters degree!
Let's look at a newly qualified nurse and her pal graduating from university at the same time - say last year. The pal takes a job where pay isn't subject to political dogma.
They both start at around the median/average salary for a graduate in Scotland, around the £30,000 mark from what I can see from a brief Internet search.
Using the current differential between public and private sectors, as an example, the nurse will have lost around £1,500 in spending power this year.
Nurses, and other public sector workers, have had their wages suppressed by tory political dogma since they came to power 12 years ago.
Given the gap continues to grow, which path are the bright young people going to take in future?
It's not just a case of nurses getting more angry as they see their living standards being eroded. It's the bright young nurses of the future deciding a 24/7 shift system with declining rewards is crap and they move into a cozy 9 to 5 Monday to Friday job where their contribution is appreciated and well rewarded.
I actually expected a lot more flak than I got so far. I agree nurses should be well paid. But everything is not black and white. I threw the wage that I read out mostly that others could say if these figures were a true reflection. Now I give you that nurses do degrees. I also agree they are trained for particular tasks that carers do not carry out. and possibly can conduct medical practices a carer would not be expected to. They also, if working in A&E in particular have to put up with all manners of injuries, abuse and violent behaviour. So I will just highlight a couple of things.
Degree/qualifications: That they deserve more than a carer I am not disputing, however as I pointed out if they are currently on 27-31 pound an hour then to me it looks like they already get up to 3 times more than the carer on minimum wage of which there are thousands. So my thought then is, should they get even more, or should we also be pleading the plight of carers...and many other industries.
Carers also participate in SVQ and HNC, some do have degrees but are not paid extra as there is no requirement to have a degree for most positions. They also have to undergo online and in person training throughout the year and pay their own subscription to the SSSC.
Work: Nursing will have plenty variances depending on what ward you are in, the type of patients you have and dealing with the public. If you are lucky you will be on a non emergency ward with routine duties.
As a social care worker this is also the case. You may work in a setting where you get out and about a lot with clients, the clients may have low to medium care needs and on a regular shift pattern. Others are not so lucky, they may be in care homes with dementia affected clients, clients who hit out at carers or smear their faeces on walls and clothes. Family who are downright rude to staff and often aggressive. Shift work that has very little pattern due to staffing issues, with double shifts a regular occurence. Some places allow carers food, which helps save some of the low wages, others do not. I am one of the lucky ones and also can make up wages by doing sleepovers, but not all places do this. Most care in the community workers, as I have done, work from 7am till 11pm with a couple of hours break in the afternoon and have zero perks unless a kindly client offers them a cup of tea and a biscuit. Carers worked all through the pandemic, some virtually locking themselves in care homes to reduce outside contact. I had to sleep two nights in a row and work shifts on either side of that.
It would be remiss and silly of me to compare jobs as both are highly varied but I was merely asking the question, and pointing out if a nurse on £30 an hour is feeling the pinch and struggling to pay for their food/accommodation and family then how much more the carer on minimum wage doing often a very similar role. We take full responsibility for clients personal care, food, clothing, bedding, outings, care plans, risk assessments, meds and as I said often put up with very disgruntled or rude family members. I have worked with people who have had or with learning disabilities, musculour sclerosis, dementia, Parkinsons, blood clots, heart attacks, weight issues, catheters, stoma bags etc I have used various hoists, stand aids, conveyor hoists that move from one room to another. Had to change bandages and apply creams etc. Very often the home carer is seen on TV nipping into someone's house to make them a cup of tea and bowl of soup. I am in care at home at the moment by the way. There was a good programme on last year with a politician (forget his name) which brought some credibility to the showing of the work of carers.
Anyway hope that clears up what my point was. By the way I have NEVER seen or heard of social care workers talk about strikes, most are not even in unions as they see little point being as the social care industry is packed full of independent agencies and only perhaps those who work from the council or NHS would have the clout to strike
, a little over 18 pounds an hour. That sounds more realistic.
