[Edinburgh-carecampaign] Welcome

[Marlyn Tweedie]

Welcome to this campaigning group. Thanks to activists Ben and Cath for
setting it up.
Just a few words to re-cap the setting up of the campaign.
It started in Nov. '07 when management said they intended to privatise 75%
of the homecare service for our elderly and disabled citizens who need help
to allow them to stay in their own homes.
This was alarming - so was the draconian package of cuts that went with it
; 30 min. timeslots to be maximised - that meant a cut of 30 mins to those
who had an hour  (quite a no.of people)
Only 1 hot meal a day   - a frozen meal re-heated -in 30 mins
They got this through the Council on the basis of saving money  - they say
they tender to the private sector
 on the basis of quality as well as cost but in practice it's the cost that
determines it. Disappointingly but  not surprisingly, they got it through
the Council with very little opposition. The Labour group and the Greens
have challenged them and they've been a big help to our campaign
particularly Lesley Hinds.
But the others are voting in line which, in my view, is shameful of the SNP
given that they were elected on an anti war; anti privatisation policy.
However we can feel confident that they do not represent their constituents
- neither the vulnerable service-users who's care is being trashed; nor the
hard-worked; rushed;stressed and, frankly, abused Council employees who try
so hard to provide a decent service nor the even worse paid and treated
staff who work for agencies.
Everyone's suffering in this drive to marketise a public service which our
grandparents etc fought so hard for.

Now that we're on e-mail  we hope to send info regularly so that we know at
least what's going on.
Just a couple of points that I've heard from homecarers tonight.
 A man who has cerebral palsy had agency staff and council staff. Council
staff noted the following; this man's protective cover was put in a dirty
bin; his commode wasn't cleaned; around his chair and the chair itself
weren't cleaned of spilt food, liquid; raw food was put on top of cooked
food.

Staff frequently report that they go to service-users homes and, if they've
just come out of hospital - because they're discharged as quickly as
possible before aids are put in place to ensure that they're safe at home
- staff then have the bad situation of e.g showering someone unsafely.


houses are getting dirtier because the Council won't allow homecarers enough
time to provide "domestic tasks"

Our campaign, sadly, has many such examples. That's why we need to speak out
against this disgrace.
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