THE GMB said yesterday that social care in this country has become a social disgrace, as it objected to Lord Hanningfield’s membership of a parliamentary inquiry into the long-term care and well-being of older people in this country.
The GMB alleges that Hanningfield presided over the closure and demolition of care homes in Essex, care worker redundancies and cuts in the remaining carers’ pay and conditions, inevitably leading, in carers’ opinion, to lower standards of care for the elderly.
It expressed its shock that Lord Hanningfield, the leader of Essex County Council, is a member of the parliamentary inquiry team.
The GMB alleged that ‘Hanningfield presided over the transfer of the last ten Essex Council Care Homes to the private contractors Excelcare in March 2005. Excelcare have had a disastrous track record following that transfer.
‘It has already demolished Sherrell House in Chigwell and has plans to demolish two others in Brentwood and Saffron Walden, much loved local care homes. they have cut care worker numbers, their pay and conditions. care workers complain of lower standards of care for the elderly.
‘The inquiry will consider how the place of older people in British society can be improved over the next decade, within the context of rapid demographic change, rising expectations and increasing financial constraints.’
Mick Ainsley, GMB organiser, said: ‘Hanningfield should not be a member of this group.
‘I hope Hanningfield’s solution of outsourcing all local authority care homes in Essex to “only for profit companies”, whose first consideration is to shareholders, whose dividends are paid for by selling homes and cutting care staff pay down to the National Minimum Wage, is not the model the rest of the group will be persuaded to accept.’
He added: ‘Social care in this country has become a social disgrace, with our elderly people increasingly dependent on poorly trained, poorly paid migrant workers, whose only way of making a living is to work excessive hours.’
He concluded: ‘Our older generation have worked hard and paid taxes and national insurance all their lives and how does our society reward them – by putting them out of sight and out of mind, not asking any questions about the care they receive or about the people who care for them.’
