As a student old age seams a far and distant fate, detached in almost all ways from the lives we are currently living. However during my gap year I found myself working at a care home and giving home visits to elderly and disabled people in my area. This was a rather rude awakening to the future that lies before us all. It is understandably difficult to imagine yourself in a position where you need continuous care and attention from strangers.  But for many elderly people, this is reality. The quality of the care we receive when we are older should be an issue we concern ourselves with now. So with the beginning of a new government, I want to find out what is in store for us when we are all old and grey.

My first concern with the care system came with the lack of training I was given as an 18 year old. I was let loose upon poor un-expecting elderly people after a mere two days training. I started by assisting another carer but by the next day I was on my own. I would be expected to wash, dress, feed, and give medication to people in their homes. As a teenager I quickly became overwhelmed by the responsibility and troubled by the misery of the women I was trying my hardest to care for. It was extraordinary how the other carers managed to so easily deal with the situation, but often I would be met by carers who would treat the clients like animals. The company was so disorganised and poorly run there were times I witnessed women left in bed without the ability to move for 17 hours at a time.

When I moved from house visits to a care home I assumed there would be positive changes. Surely a care home would give the residents companionship not achieved by the house visits. I also assumed the level of care would be higher as the nurses and carers would be on site all day. Needless to say my hopes were in vain. Residents were often ignored, I heard screaming from a room and alerted a nurse and the response was ‘oh she always does that’. So distress is acceptable if a resident is always distressed. The residents were often left in their rooms without any form of stimulation or entertainment, then wheeled out into living rooms when anyone of importance came to visit. It soon became clear to me that the home was understaffed and that the appearance of good quality care was more important than the actual quality of care.

So why is the government allowing such substandard care to be provided for the elderly? The obvious answer is that we don’t like to think about it. We ignore the impending death that lies in front of us, block out the inevitable reliance upon others that we will eventually experience. Is it this fear of our own mortality which leads us to neglect the important issues around care for elderly and disabled people? It seems distorted that even though the elderly vote in strong numbers, such an important issue is ignored.

The Conservatives have made promises to improve the quality of state pensions and to also put measures in place to reduce the number of elderly people forced to sell their homes in order to pay for their care. These are both positive steps but they fail to address the fundamental issues which deprive many elderly people the dignity they deserve. It will fail to ensure that quality skilled carers with experience are looking after the elderly. The neglect I witnessed in the year that I worked as a home visit carer and in a care home was appalling, yet nothing is being said or done about it.

When councils hand over the care of the elderly to companies instead of providing the service themselves they are turning the vulnerable elderly of our society into a commodity. I have far too often seen underpaid and under qualified women rush through house visits because they know the more people they see in a day the more money they will earn. I’m not suggesting all care homes are bad, as I am sure they aren’t, or that all carers are selfish and self-serving, as I know many of them do excellent work. But I do believe we need a new system to ensure we safegaurd the vulnerable people within society. It is important that we change the system now whilst we still have a voice.