I’m thankful I held Mum’s hand as she died before care scandal

My mum lived in a residential care home, a very good one, and sadly passed away over a year ago – and yes, I am glad. She had dementia so wouldn’t have understood why we couldn’t visit her and would have been deeply upset at missing her twice weekly trips out with my sister and I. I work in social care – not on the frontline like the hundreds of thousands dedicated care workers who are struggling on in sometimes unbearable circumstance – but in a supporting role for a large charity until I was furloughed a few weeks ago. As part of my work I have met lots of people living with dementia. Ex-managing directors, bankers, a fighter pilot, university lecturers, builders, electricians and a milkman renowned in his care home for getting up every day at 3am when he would have been up to start work in his long career delivering the daily pints; every one of them carrying out vital roles in our communities. Who are we to condemn these people to now live out the remainder of their lives in our care homes where, if Covid-19 strikes, it seems they will not be offered life support or hospital care? Our Government seems to have made this silent decision – leaving the lonely and those with dementia isolated from the rest of society, snatching glimpses of loved ones through windows or destined to take quick calls on mobile phones from family members who they may not recognise purely from a voice if they can’t see the person in front of them. It seems that the valuable part they have played in society is now being forgotten, as they are designated as second-class citizens due to their age and infirmity. And let us not forget they are all someone’s mum, dad, uncle, grandmother or grandad – so many denied the comfort of a familiar face in a time of crisis and fear. In the flurry of activity urgently manufacturing PPE for our NHS heroes – and rightly so as they are at the front-line of the fight to save lives – our residential care home staff, the second line of support, are soldiering on with at best inadequate kit for the job or, at worst, fashioning their own protective clothing from bin bags and hair nets. It has always been the case that social care staff are undervalued and left largely ignored by the Government and society – they only come into most people’s minds when we need them to care for us or our loved ones. They are diabolically badly paid for what they do, and work long hours in difficult and often distressing circumstances. The current crisis is shining a light on the appalling lack of support for these workers, many of whom are being forced into work, whatever their personal circumstances, either by bosses who need them to work due to the huge pressure they are under due to Covid-19 or, in many cases, by their absolute dedication. They give care week by week, month by month, year by year that we either can’t – or don’t – choose to offer to our elderly, however much we might love them. So alongside pouring money into supporting our economy – and now offering some very limited support for the charity sector – the Government needs to recognise the huge contribution being made by social care and the residential care workers in the current crisis. Yes, hospital staff need PPE, but so do residential care workers to protect those they care for and themselves and their families, especially as they now seem to be presiding over caring for people that the Government has designated not worth saving from Covid-19. Once this nightmare is over, my plea is that we don’t return to ‘business as usual’, ignoring the social care system as governments for generations have done. Rather it needs huge investment to allow social care workers to do their jobs properly and to be valued and paid for a professional job, well done. My mum died while we were out doing what she loved most as part of her weekly routine – going for a cuppa and cake at a local tearoom. She didn’t suffer, she went very quickly – and I will be forever grateful that I was there to hold her hand. Dinah Keal is a Lib Dem town and district councillor for Norton in Ryedale. Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well. 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I’m thankful I held Mum’s hand as she died before care scandal – Dinah Keal