As someone who recently lost a mother in this period, I can only applaud the work carers do and try and do under all standard circumstances.
Throw in a pandemic and the sadly the last few weeks were simply spawning and waiting to happen.
I deal with many many tens of carers in my line of work. Sadly if I could choose now, I wouldn't want many of them at all ever caring for any member of my family.
TO BE 100% CLEAR; My view here isn't that it's their fault. As they are no doubt lovely well intentioned people for taking on roles and tasks that many many are highly unskilled, untrained and therefore unable to ever do what's required in it's full role capacity.
I will add this, I am in no way a safety nor medic type person in any sense, but allowing ANYONE (Friend/family/doctor/nurse/delivery person/postman) into any care home establishment post March 23rd, then I lay the outcome (good or bad) with the person most qualified at that care site, if there wasn't a sufficient high grade manager onsite then it falls to the area manager and if not then a regional one and if not the responsibility jumps to that senior person who IS responsible for simple H&Safety.
Rightly, someone and some people at the top end of the care management tree will be knocked out by this and rightly so and especially the private care homes taking local authority monies. To be honest some will be blameless and feel they only can do what they can do with a given size pie.
The issue is how we come back from this and resurrect a profession to ensure it can afford to employ true carers, supplied with good training, allow them to develop and harness pure caring skills that many many tens of thousands of elderly bitterly need and simply do not receive in the UK today.
This isn't a bash the Gov't type post either, which I know many love to on here just for the sake if it. As a nation we ought to be ashamed of the way our whole system is and actively ask our Gov't to put things in place for the greater good as one day WE WILL ALL NEED THIS CARE.