5 February 2025

“Staff in social care go above and beyond, regardless of the weather”

Member Spotlight: Angela Bonomy, Chief Executive Officer at Sense Scotland, reflects on Storm Éowyn and the people who risk their own safety to provide essential support to others

Friday, 24 January 2025 is one of those dates we’ll all remember in the future – the day that Storm Éowyn and a Met Office danger to life red weather warning descended on Scotland.

It was the day that schools and nurseries closed; the day that Tesco wasn’t open; the day that the bins weren’t emptied; the day that there was no public transport; the day that GP appointments weren’t available; and the day after the Government sent an emergency alert message to all of our phones. It was enough to remind us all of lockdown.

Everyone was told: stay at home. Don’t travel. Stock up on candles and bread. Keep safe.

Everyone, that is, except social care organisations, including my own, Sense Scotland.

At Sense Scotland, we support people with complex learning and physical disabilities and sensory impairments, most of whom are also non-verbal. Many of the people we support live in their own homes, supported by Sense Scotland staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Staff are there to enable them to live their best lives, do things that most of us take for granted, and keep them safe.

For many of our services, closing was not an option.

Thursday, 23 January was a critical day for us. The day before Éowyn descended on Scotland is when the planning started – closing the services we were able to, and for all others, making sure staff were available for all shifts, establishing whether they could get to those shifts (with no public transport available), contingency planning for those who might not be able to make it despite their best efforts, and acknowledging that staff would also have logistical difficulties in their own lives. Staff communication had to be clear and fast-moving, and strike the balance between serious, but not scaremongering.

When the 24th dawned, we were as prepared as we could be, but still knew that the best laid plans gang aft agley…

Our fantastic teams were in constant contact throughout the day, checking in on staff and people supported. Miraculously, for our services that remained open, all shifts, no matter the time of day or night, were covered, and everyone remained safe. Absolute bloomin’ legends!

And the point I haven’t mentioned so far? All of these people who risked their own safety and disrupted their own lives to keep the people we support safe are paid the princely sum of £12 an hour, which equates to just over £22k per year.

Storm Éowyn isn’t an isolated event – staff in social care, like our staff at Sense Scotland, go above and beyond, regardless of the weather. They’re driven by their compassion and drive to make a difference; to ensure that the people they support are safe, happy, and healthy. But the events of the 24th January 2025 really put into perspective just how far staff in social care will go to make sure this is the case.

I hope you will join me and the rest of CCPS in calling for the Scottish Government to invest more in the social care sector and reward staff proportionately to their efforts. We can’t control the weather. But we can all play our part in making sure social care staff get what they deserve – a fair wage.

Angela Bonomy is Chief Executive Officer at Sense Scotland

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20 February 2024

“Some days, it feels like we literally hold people’s lives in our hands”

As part of our Rethink To 13 series, a support practitioner in Sense Scotland’s short breaks service tells us about the impact a pay increase to £13 would have on her, the workforce – and the people they support

“As a support practitioner in a respite unit for young people and adults with complex needs, I wear many hats, and perform so many roles in a day. I am carer, friend, cook, nurse, driver, emotional/physical outlet, entertainer, advocate, teacher, family, to name a few.

Some days, it feels like we literally hold people’s lives in our hands. I am paid the Living Wage for only one of these roles. Raising the wage to at least £13 an hour would not only allow us to feel more appreciated and valued within these roles, it would encourage experienced staff to stay within the care sector.

We do this job to the best of our ability and because we care. But in turn, we also need to feel that we are cared for. My role requires me to be registered with the SSSC, a professional body. However, we still are classed as unskilled workers. The roles we perform are anything but unskilled.

I have stayed with people in their hour of need, providing end of life care, ensuring they are not alone and feel safe and loved. Not because my role required this, but because this is what everyone deserves.

Raising the hourly rate of pay would lead to a happier, less stressed workforce, allowing us to focus on the care that the people receiving support deserve. This would enable them to have more confidence in the people caring for them and offer a happier, more positive experience of care.

It would also encourage others to look into a career in care, offering more diversity, skills and experience, which would enhance the level of service we can provide for the people we support.”

Find out more about Sense Scotland

Read more about our Rethink To 13 campaign

 

 

 

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