Hello, I’m new to this site. I’m a freelance journalist writing an article for The Guardian about carers who are not paid for their travel time. I am looking for carers, particularly outside of London, who would be willing to discuss their experiences with me. They can be anonymous. I am also looking for care users who have had a bad experience c/o care agencies due to short, rushed visits as agencies not paying for travel time. Thank you, Melissa
Mmmm … travel expenses for family / kinship carers ?
None … unless one claims off their caree for legitimate expenses … even then , the TaxMan might take an interest ?
Perhaps I should have charged my mother so much per mile when pushing her in her wheelchair ?
Double bubble on weekends / public holidays … although neither exist for the majority of inmates in CarerLand.
Paid care workers ?
Different story … Unison would probably have filing cabinets full of evidence ?
Say " Hi " to Frances from us all … all 7.8 million of us.
We await her " Big " one on our Plight !
Twenty plus years is a long time to wait ?
Hello Melissa
As a journalist you should be aware that the term “Carer” is usually used to refer to those who care for family/friends in an unpaid, non-professional capacity. Those who work in the care industry are referred to as Care Workers/Care Assistants or Personal Assistants.
Carers UK is a charity that supports those caring for friends/family in the unpaid, non-professional capacity and this forum provides them with peer support and advice.
Those Carers that are lucky enough to qualify receive £64.60 per week Carers Allowance for a minimum of 35 hours care per week (in reality this usual amounts to 24/7 care)- no expenses allowed, no holiday pay, no overtime, no time off for sickness and, as we are ‘on site’ 24/7365 ‘travel time’ is not something that comes within our remit.
Certainly many of our members and those they care for have suffered due to short, rushed visits (many, many posts on the subject over the years). However if you wish to use our members for your research then I must ask you to read our Community Guidelines and obtain permission from Carers UK to post further.
Research and consultations
Because our community is primarily here to facilitate peer support, we do not allow third parties to post links to research or surveys. However, occasionally Carers UK may start a thread in relation to research we are conducting by ourselves or in partnership with another charity.
If you would like to discuss potential collaboration with Carers UK on a research project please get in touch at > research@carersuk.org
I am now locking this topic.