A Lanarkshire gran was so inspired by the compassionate carers who came into her home to help look after her dying husband that she too followed her calling into a career as a home carer.
In 2002, Beth McGowan’s husband, Stevie, was diagnosed at the age of 42 with multiple sclerosis (MS) after years of experiencing back pain, spasms, numbness in his hands and blurred vision.
Within months, the doting dad was no longer able to play with his children Kelly, then 14, Patrick, eight, and Danny, who was four.
Prior to that devastating, full-blown seizure, Beth managed her husband’s care and that of her children on her own with support from her mum.
A private agency then provided limited care, until Stevie’s needs became complex and he was again admitted to hospital.
Tests revealed that he’d had chronic seizures in both hemispheres of the brain, and he was also soon to be diagnosed with dementia.
When Stevie lost his ability to swallow and suck and began aspirating, Beth requested that he be referred to hospital for the fitting of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feeding tube.
She explained: “It is very difficult making choices for someone else. His PEG went in, it was quite successful and he got home. But he had no mental or physical capability at all. He had psychotic episodes and would shout all night. Although his eyes were okay, his brain could not see anymore.”
All family occasions took place by Stevie’s bedside, including Beth’s 50th birthday meal consisting of fish suppers, and the celebration of Kelly’s 21st, with helium balloons and cake.
“Ours was not a sad house. You cannot walk about saying: ‘Woe is me.’ The weans treated Stevie as normal,” said Beth, who could go out to shop three times a week thanks to support from care agency, Crossroads.
In November, 2014, another massive seizure left Beth with the choice that no wife wants to have to make: whether the time had come to let Stevie slip away.
“The decision was for Stevie, but it was also for his family,” said Beth, who was also supported by The Haven in Blantyre, where her son Danny went on to become a volunteer.
“We had stopped using the PEG. I had to explain to the kids that it was not working any more. My fear was that he would just take continuous seizures until he died and I did not want our kids to witness that.”
Six days later, on December 17, 2014, Stevie passed away and was laid to rest on Christmas Eve.
“Stevie died a wee bit at a time,” said his wife. “I grieved his arms, I grieved his legs. I had a boy still at school and I had a house to keep. There was a big sense of responsibility for everyone, not just me. I could not sit in the house looking at the clock all the time. I had to go out to work.”
A month after losing Stevie, Beth completed training with Crossroads and soon started working as part of the team of home carers who had helped shoulder the care of her own husband.
Beth, who began working for South Lanarkshire Council in July 2015, continued: “There have been a lot of changes over the years. We now administer medication. The job comes with a lot more responsibility. You are very much a lone worker and there’s a lot of decision-making.”
Asked whether it takes a special kind of person to be a home carer, 60-year-old Beth said: “I think you’ve got to really, genuinely care about the people you go into. I’ve had carers in who were trained in palliative and end-of-life care. I’ve seen it from all sides. In the actual care part, I could not fault any of them.
“They were compassionate and they genuinely cared. They knew it was not just Stevie. There were kids in the house. They were allowed to have a life, too.
“Seeing first-hand what they did for us inspired me to go into home care, but there were practical reasons as well. I learned a lot when Stevie was ill and I can use some of those skills in my job. I used to get up in the morning when his stomach was empty and change the PEG. I was good at it.
“When you go in as a carer, it’s your workplace, but it is also a home. It is not like customer service. You are meeting the family, seeing grandkids being born, growing up and getting married. You are in there to do a job, but how could you not become a part of it? It would be impossible.
“I went to work for a year with my 87-year-old mum in the house with cancer.
“But I still went in with a chirpy ‘good morning!’ People have their own problems. They don’t need yours, too. You feel valued by the people you go into and their families and that’s just one of the reasons why I genuinely love my job.”
Yet, the alarming results of a recent survey of staff has highlighted the mounting dismay of care sector workers like Beth, and a stark warning from a leading trade union that urgent changes are needed to avert “a looming catastrophe in care.”
The poll, conducted by trade union GMB Scotland, found that 82 per cent of care workers considered quitting in the last year.
The same survey also revealed that a similar proportion believe that the increasing stress of their job is damaging their health.
And 84 per cent said pay levels make it unaffordable to carry on.
Many of the 300 staff polled said their job was taking an increasing physical and mental toll but, with no sick pay, they could not take time off.
GMB Scotland is campaigning for the immediate reinstatement of the Social Care Support Fund offering sick pay to staff affected by Covid.
Cara Stevenson, GMB Scotland organiser said the survey had exposed the scale of the crisis of morale in the care sector.
“These workers do one of the most critical jobs in any society,” she said. “Their commitment to caring for some of Scotland’s most vulnerable people has been demonstrated again and again but their work is undervalued, underappreciated and underpaid.
“To avert a looming catastrophe in care, that needs to change and needs to change as a matter of urgency.”
The survey results revealed that 82 per cent of staff had thought about leaving in the last year, while 84 per cent do not believe they can afford to work in social care.
Meanwhile, 89 per cent of the 300 staff surveyed last month said they did not feel valued as a social care worker, while 80 per cent said the job has had a negative impact on their mental health.
Although low-paid home care staff celebrated an equal pay victory after South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) agreed their more complex roles should be reflected in their pay packet, trade unionists rallied last week at the local authority HQ to press the issue of backdated wages.
It is understood the equal pay victory may cost SLC more than £10million in backdated wages if the pay rise backdates to the start of GMB’s appeals in October 2020.
Kay McVeigh, South Lanarkshire Council’s head of personnel services, said the local authority “hugely” values the work undertaken by all its staff and would “always seek to recognise and reward their efforts”.
She added: “Following additional information presented at the appeals process this month the grade outcome increased.
“Along with this was a requirement for our home care workforce to achieve the appropriate SVQ Level.
“This means the increase cannot retrospectively apply to a period when that qualification was not held or being worked towards.”