Jersey’s older population is rising and will – according to the most recent Common Population Policy Annual Report – continue to “increase rapidly” over the next 20 to 30 years.
Between 2021 and 2051, the number of islanders over the age of 85 is expected to rise by 120%.
The statistics paint a clear picture, but somewhere in the background – obscured by the data – are hundreds of empathetic, committed, and hardworking care staff.
Whether stationed in care homes or driving around the island for home visits, care workers play a crucial, though often silent, role in sustaining the emotional and physical health of our elderly population.
It can be all too easy to take such tireless efforts for granted – in large part because the work is undertaken quietly and without fanfare.
And despite this self-effacing exterior, or perhaps because of it, care workers consistently find themselves exhausted, overstretched, and under-appreciated.
Express spoke to three Jersey care workers to find out more about the job, the industry as a whole, and its many surprising hidden pressures.
One theme, in particular, recurred throughout each conversation: a growing disconnect between on-the-ground care workers and the upper management responsible for managing rotas, working patterns, and employee welfare.
“The good ones are leaving due to too much stress”
Private care home worker Marian Ilie, who has worked in the same residence for four years, said that care staff “don’t feel appreciated, seen or heard by their managers”.
He explained: “New carers that are coming to work in care homes, they feel rushed, they are not getting their induction in a way that is not rushed.
“Because of the place being short-staffed, you [have] to see everything in the quick way, rather than someone taking their time with you, and explaining the tasks to you properly.”
Central to the struggle of care workers in Jersey, for Marian, are misconceptions concerning what exactly “taking care” of the elderly populace constitutes.
“Looking after elderly people in a care home doesn’t include only giving them a cup of tea and having a conversation with them,” he remarked.
“[It] means stress, it means looking after them and keeping them safe, providing hygiene to them, dressing them, helping them with their medication, with their appointments, feeding them.”
You can get a smile from one resident and you can get a punch from another one
Marian Ilie, care worker
He added: “As a carer working in a care home, you can get a smile from one resident and you can get a punch from another one.
“All we can do is smile, move on, go cry in the bathroom and then come back to continue with the work routine.”
Being a care worker in Jersey, he stated, is “not for everyone”.
“Only strong people, kind and caring people, would stay and do the job – but we do get burnt out at some point,” said Marian.
“The good ones are leaving due to too much stress, or because they need to find something else that pays better because of the cost of living.”
“We don’t get paid enough for the work we put in”
The cost-of-living crisis is of particular concern to Marian, who noted that care workers are often expected to work round-the-clock for scant remuneration.
He put it simply: “We don’t get paid enough for the work we put in: working 12-hour shifts, covering shifts when it’s short-staffed.
“The pay rate is low and people prefer to go and work something else that [might] pay less than healthcare, but work eight-hour shifts and have less stress.”
More emphasis, he says, should be put on managing the mental health of care staff operating in draining and stress-inducing work environments.
Marian said: “We should get more benefits, more holiday allowance, better pay, discounts to certain things like the gym, to help us maintain a healthy and clear mind.
“Healthcare staff are leaving their jobs because of their mental health, and because they don’t get much support and they cannot cope with the stress and the demands.”
He suggested that the island is simply not set up to accommodate people working demanding hours on a lower salary.
“Prices for food in the supermarket are so high,” Marian pointed out. “Even the bus fare, it’s almost £3, people pay £100 a month minimum for the transport to and from work.”
He concluded: “The government needs to understand and protect those that are working in healthcare [and] understand what they are going through, and how they can make us happier and keep us in the workplace.”
“The rotas were out of control”
Another care worker, who opted to speak anonymously, said she decided to become a care worker after previously working in childcare.
She told the Express that she left her first job due to excessive working hours, but was then offered a new role on the basis of being provided a flexible work arrangement with an emphasis on employee welfare.
“I said this is specifically what I’m looking for: I’m looking for better rotas to plan my time better so I can get a better work-life balance – they were like: ‘Yep, yep, we’re on board,’ ” she recalled.
“It’s very kind of cuddly – we pay well, we give you this, we pay your petrol, we do this, we do that – regular work meetings where we have a drink and a pizza.”
But, she said, it quickly became apparent that the agency was unwilling to follow up on their assurances.
“All I can say is, if you can experience love-bombing through a company, this is what it was like,” she laughed.
“The rotas were out of control – several times I went in and I just said, ‘Can we tweak this? And can we do that?’”
The care worker described becoming “fed-up” with the chaotic rotas, before eventually bringing the issue up with her employer and deciding to leave.
After handing in her notice, she then found a part-time role at a third care agency.
She described being “really, really happy” with her new company, where she was set up with a part-time role visiting elderly patients in their homes.
Although enjoying her work, she described being frequently unable to remain on schedule due to a lack of allocated travel time between appointments.
“I had four clients in four hours, and it was difficult because I was having to leave clients early to travel from one end of the island to the other, and back again to the same client at lunchtime,” she explained.
“I was never on time, and I’d expressed this, and I was sort of told: ‘Well, you’ll have to leave one of the clients early.’”
But she says that her decision to flag this issue to higher-ups was later used against her when she was signed off sick due to a recent back injury.
“I let them know that I was signed off for a week from the doctor,” she said.
“I looked at my app, but not only had all my shifts gone for the week, but everything was gone beyond that; I had nothing, no shifts.”
“If you complain too much, then you know you’re marked”
An email, informing her of her one week’s notice, explained, she said, that it had “become clear” she was “not happy” and “can’t fulfil the role” of being a carer.
Talking over coffee, she described this as a “shoddy excuse for letting me go”.
“I understand that you’ve got a part-time worker who’s signed off sick, but I mean, they knew I was happy there – so to get an email then to say you’re clearly not happy, it’s a bit disingenuous.”
While her love for the job remains as strong as ever, she told me that her distrust of care agencies could lead to her working on a freelance basis in the future.
“[Companies] offer a long list of everything they’ll give you, but what I’m learning is that – boots on the ground, when you’re actually doing the work – if you complain too much, then you know you’re marked,” she said.
“Every carer that I’ve ever spoken to enjoys their work,” she added. “But something to do with the way the company is run, or what is expected of them, eventually weighs them down.”
Although quick to praise Jersey’s Care Commission for its good work regulating the industry, the carer insisted that more needs to be done to protect workers from care agencies.
She went on to echo Marian’s observation that the mental health of care workers remains not prioritised at best and, at worst, forgotten about.
“In the first job I was in, I lost a lady, and nobody even called me into the office to ask me how I was coping,” the woman said.
“In all those three years, I’ve never had one – not one – meeting with anybody about my mental health.
“I’ve had messages from my team leader that say because of this client’s mental health, you’ve got to do this, or you’ve got to do that – and I’m like, well, that’s fine for the client’s mental health, but what about mine?”
“Something needs to be done whereby there’s better protection for us”
A third agency worker – also volunteering her story anonymously – said she, too, lost her job in sudden circumstances with only a week’s notice.
“I actually found out from clients on the morning before I got the email,” she told me.
The carer said she felt as if she’d abandoned her clients, several of whom she’d formed a close relationship with.
“I took [one client] to go to the beach sometimes, we developed a bond, and all of a sudden I’m not going in,” she said.
“She must have thought, ‘What happened to this woman?’ and I didn’t say anything.
“How would a person feel? I know I would feel ghosted – so I asked the company, and I said, ‘Look, can I just go in – in my own time – to say hello to the lady?’ They said that’s a ‘hard no’.”
She also referred to the belief that setting clear boundaries about her work schedule contributed to her “ruthless” dismissal, with her “send-off” email citing “dissatisfaction” in the role as a reason for the decision.
“(My boss) told me, ‘We all go above and beyond sometimes,’ and I’m like, well, I get that, but I can’t always do that, I have other things in my life,” the care worker explained.
“I don’t mind it here and there, but it needs to be a consistent thing.”
She said that her main issue lies not with losing her job, but “the way they went about it”.
“It just feels really wrong, and it’s been really upsetting,” she reflected, adding: “The biggest complaint is that they didn’t allow us to say to the client: ‘I’m sorry, I’m not going to be coming in anymore.’”
“Listening to the voices of care users, their families and care providers is central to how our standards continue to evolve”
A spokesperson for the Jersey Care Commission told Express that independent regulation and ongoing inspections continue to “play a vital role in helping ensure islanders receive safe, effective and compassionate care in Jersey”.
“We have set standards which are statements detailing clear expectations about how care services should be provided,” they added.
“These standards provide a structure that is used during an inspection. During every inspection, Regulation Officers obtain feedback from a range of staff, care receivers, relatives, and external professionals to inform the inspection report.”
The spokesperson said that a number of areas have been identified for improvement in recent inspection reports – including induction, training and staff support.
They added: “These standards are in place to show what people should expect from the care they receive and outline what care providers must do to meet those expectations.
“Listening to the voices of care users, their families and care providers is central to how our standards continue to evolve.
“By setting clear standards and working collaboratively with providers, regulation helps identify what’s working well, highlight where improvements are needed, and support continual learning across health and social care services.”
