Among Ms Purnell's workforce is carer Nicole Greenaway.Since starting the role two years ago, she enjoys the satisfaction of helping people with their day-to-day needs.
Emi Iancu, of Ipswich, started working in a care home in 2019 and says at first it was a "pleasure to go to work". "Working with residents was very rewarding, very nice, but sometimes I had hot cups of tea spilled on me, I was punched and slapped.Mr Iancu says other members of staff would breakdown as they were struggling to cope with the workload and he was often a shoulder for them to cry on.Mr Iancu says he was doing effectively two jobs in one night when he worked as a carer
For Tina Judd, she found working as a community carer took too much of a toll on her physical and mental health.She became a carer because she lost her mum five years ago and had loved looking after her.
From the carers who helped my late father, overwhelmed, overworked, undervalued and definitely underpaid. We must improve working conditions now and increase pay where possible. Value the carer, it’s a passion to care for our loved ones. Vital work!